Drakan 2 The Rekindling
by Shadow of Light
Summary: The Betrayer, Navaros, has been barred from entering Drakan, but Rynn's brother Delon was thrown into the Rift during the confrontation. With her Bonded dragon Arokh, Rynn flies into the darkness after her brother...
1. Prologue

Prologue  __

Prologue 

Ethereal winds blew in the darkness. Rynn could feel them whip at her hair... could feel the merciless cold despite the warmth provided by the dragon she rode. His wings beat invisibly on either side of her, his neck stretched out in front where a faint fiery glow came from his eyes. 

The only light she had to see by in this black void. 

And somewhere far below them was her brother, falling endlessly. What hope did they have of finding one small boy in the dark recesses of infinity? 

Rynn shook that thought from her mind and stared determinedly into the void. They _would_ find him... 

But even if they did... 

"Arokh?" she said. 

The dragon glanced back at her for a second. It looked wierd; two flaming eyes peering at her from nothing. "What, Rynn?" 

"How will we get out of here?" 

"Runeblade." 

Rynn touched the pommel of the enchanted sword strapped to her back and ran her fingers over the Rift Crystal embedded there. She'd used it to exorcise the Dark Lord Navaros from her brother's body, only to watch Delon himself stumble back and fall into the void. Remembering his anguished cry of her name as he'd plumetted from sight made tears blur her eyes. 

"The sword can't help us find him?" she asked in a slightly hoarse voice. 

Arokh sighed. Rynn could feel it vibrate through his body. "No. It can open a Rift and it can close one. That's about all." 

"But Navaros..." Rynn had fought Navaros when he'd possessed Delon and Runeblade had seperated the Dark Lord's soul from her brother's body. 

"We were already in the Rift then," Arokh reminded her gently. "Now we're deeper." 

"Can something infinite have depth?" 

The dragon didn't reply. 

"Will we find Delon?" she almost pleaded. 

"I don't know," he rumbled softly. "I think we'll need help. We have to know where he is, and how to find him. This..." his glowing eyes glanced around at the darkness, "...this could take forever." 

"There has to be a way to find him," Rynn said with new energy. "Navaros's servants found a way to talk with _Navaros_, and he was trapped in the Rift." 

Arokh didn't mention that Navaros had been one of the most powerful archmagi the world of Drakan had ever seen. He just nodded. "True. Very true..." 

Rynn drew Runeblade from its scabbard and looked at the dimly glowing ice-blue blade. "I don't know where this will open," she said, and held it up high. 

Beams of brilliant light shot from the Rift Crystal, streaking through the void like the beams of a lighthouse. It started to hum softly and Rynn swung the sword downward. 

The darkness rippled like a disturbed pond, then twisted into a massive, black-purple-silver vortex that caused the wind to blow more violently than before. 

"I'll be back, Delon," Rynn whispered as she held tight to Arokh... 

...and they flew through the Rift gate. 


	2. Return

Return  __

Return 

"_BLLlleeeeaaaarrrrghhhh_!" 

Arokh swerved as an orc flew at him, followed shortly by a wartok. Disoriented from the passage through the rift, he almost ran into the side of a mountain. 

"Look out!" Rynn yelled, barely keeping her grip on him with her legs. Runeblade slid back into its scabbard and she grabbed a more secure hold with her hands as Arokh rolled aside to dodge another orc. 

It exploded on the rocky cliff behind them with a spectacular _splat_. Below, a primitive giant bellowed its unintelligible war cry and cast about for more things to throw. Discovering that the companions of his previous ammunition had wisely fled for their lives, it raised its brutish head and roared. 

Arokh roared back, his voice distinctly louder. 

"Stop showing off!" Rynn shouted, then gasped as something zipped past her ear. She flattened herself against the dragon's neck as Arokh roared in pain, looked up and engulfed the cliff in a cloud of fire. 

"Goblins!" 

More arrows zipped their way and Rynn felt two pass through Arokh's left wing. "Get out of here -" she started to say, then felt a powerful jolt as the giant hit Arokh square in the chest with half a tree trunk. She flew backwards, her grip lost, and couldn't help thinking, "_So _this_ is what it's like,_" as the ground rushed towards her. 

Arokh snatched her out of the air with a foreclaw and swept his wings down with a fire-tinged snarl. 

Sudden agony gripped Rynn's chest and her vision started to blur. She could barely see as Arokh rose above the edges of the mountains and glided down to safety on the other side. He landed on a grassy slope out of sight from the goblins and giant. 

Rynn scrambled from his grasp, never feeling more happy to be standing on the ground. Even that feeling wasn't long lasting, as a second flash of pain went across her chest and forced her to sit down or fall over. 

"I think I've got a broken rib," Arokh gasped. 

Rynn reached for her pack only to discover it was gone. "Oh great," she managed, and fell silent. Talking hurt. She looked at Arokh, who returned her gaze with a kind of helplessness. To walk or fly would put both of them at risk without healing potions. A broken rib could saw through a lung in a matter of minutes. 

"Are you -" Rynn winced, but pressed on, "- hurt anywhere else?" 

Arokh spread his left wing to show where the two arrows had gone through the red membrane. "That's it," he said, then grunted in pain. "Rynn," he went on with obvious difficulty, "we can't stay here. I think I can walk without too much trouble." 

"Are you sure?" 

He nodded. "But I won't be able to breathe fire, or anything else. You won't be able to fight, either - not with Runeblade." He lowered his wing to help her climb up. "Which way?" 

It would be a difficult walk, even downhill, Rynn realised with dismay. The downward slope of the mountain was grassy, but extremely rugged and steep in places. It was impossible to see far down because of the clouds; everything disappeared in a grey haze. "Just go down," Rynn said, and put one hand to her bruised chest. 

Arokh started forward and Rynn thought, "_Not the triumphant return I'd imagined._" 


	3. Morghus & Ebontyne

Morghus & Ebontyne  __

Morghus & Ebontyne 

The descent was brutal. Every step caused a dull ache, but when Arokh was obliged to spread his wings and glide down too-steep inclines Rynn could feel sharp stabbing pains in the right side of her chest. What made it worse in her mind was that she couldn't even take off her dragon armour to see how bad it looked. 

After an hour they were below the clouds. If Rynn looked back she could see the grey barrier concealing the higher peaks. Forward, the way down still seemed harsh. There was a forest creeping up at the base, which worried her. Arokh wouldn't be able to fly over it or walk through it. And looking along its border, she couldn't see where it ended (or even if it did). 

She brooded on this as Arokh concentrated on walking as painlessly as possible, and was thinking it fortunate that at least they hadn't been attacked... when a shadow passed over them. 

"A dragon," Rynn said tersely. 

"Not just any dragon," Arokh added, when he stopped to look. "Morghus." 

"You know this dragon?" 

"He was... one of the dragons of the Order, as I was." His voice was shadowed with doubt as the winged shape high above began to circle them like a hawk sighting prey. "As Werokh was. Rynn, if he attacks there's no other choice. I'll use my magma breath." 

They waited and the dragon flew lower, obviously taking his time. Rynn had to squint against the brightness of the clouded sky, but it looked like Morghus was a black dragon with silver breastplates from neck to tail. As she watched, something else became apparent. "Arokh," she said softly. "That dragon has a rider." 

"What?" Startled, Arokh looked up again. "By the Flame... it can't be..." 

Morghus' wings beat gently as he landed on all fours several feet in front of them. His eyes were the same fiery red as Arokh's, Rynn realised. In fact, with the exception of colouring, Morghus could almost have been Arokh's... 

"Brother," the black dragon said, his voice a soft rumble. "It has been a while. I did not know you had awoken." 

"This is my Bonded, Rynn," Arokh replied in an oddly neutral tone. "It was she who woke me." 

"Bonded?" said Morghus, tilting his head slightly and raising an eyeridge. "She passed the Test of the Tower?" 

"She has. We are all that remains of the Order of the Flame." Arokh fell silent, and Rynn first thought it was because of the pain of speaking. Then she realised he was waiting - hoping - for Morghus to dispute his statement. 

He did not. A small smile curved his jaws, and he said, "My Bonded is, as she was when last we spoke, Ebontyne." 

The black-armoured figure on his back removed her helmet to reveal a face as young as Rynn's. Hair as black as a raven's wing framed pale skin, high cheekbones and vivid blue eyes. Those eyes regarded Rynn steadily for a while, then Ebontyne inclined her head. She didn't smile. 

"That cannot be the same person, Morghus," Arokh said. "It has been too many years and she looks not a day older." 

"The Dark Union has its secrets, Arokh," Ebontyne said. Her voice was deep. "Shall we dispense with the pleasantries, Morghus?" 

"As you wish," the black dragon replied, his smile widening. "Arokh, Rynn, we're here to join you for a while." 

"_What_?" Arokh started. 

"But Ebontyne just said -" Rynn began. 

"We have broken our ties," Ebontyne interrupted, "as did the other old riders when Navaros was defeated this second time." 

"So you just want to join us because we're the winning team?" Rynn said in an accusing voice. 

"No offence," Ebontyne responded coolly, "but I don't think you'd be the 'winning team' had we chosen to attack you." She raked Rynn and Arokh with her blue-eyed gaze, lingering over the red dragon's damaged chest. Her lips curved slightly and Rynn found herself flushing with anger. 

"Then why?" Arokh demanded. "You did not come looking for us. You could not have known where to find us." 

Morghus bowed his head in acknowledgment. "That is so. We were heading east on... other business. Had we not seen you crawling along the ground like a large and wingless insect we would still be going that way." 

Rynn felt Arokh's muscles tense with the same anger she felt. 

"We're joining you to indulge our need for vengeance against the Betrayer," Ebontyne said. "You know where he is, you have the means to reach him -" her eyes flicked to Runeblade's hilt, "- and you, Arokh, have defeated him twice before. This time, with our help, you can kill him." 


	4. Memories

Memories  __

Memories 

It had been a full two days since all this had begun, Rynn realised with a yawn. Two days since Delon had been kidnapped and her home burned by the Dark Union. She hadn't slept since then, having been intensely focussed on rescuing her brother, but now fatigue had finally caught up with her. Fully healed (Ebontyne was a War Mage possessing healing powers), she sat between Arokh's foreclaws with her head against his armoured chest and tried to stay awake as Morghus and Ebontyne spoke over the crackling of the campfire. 

"We believed in their power," Ebontyne said, her eyes staring into the fire. "Navaros and Kaeros. The Order of the Flame preached of equality for all, but it was not like that. The 'Golden Age', as they called it, was enforced by the Bonded and you know it, Arokh." 

"There was peace," Arokh replied wearily. "The Order unified the land and ended the wars." 

"Under the control of the dragon-riders?" she asked, quirking a brow and smiling slightly. "Navaros saw the truth, as did Morghus and I. As did others who joined the Dark Union. If Drakan was going to be ruled by someone, it would be by someone who didn't fool himself into thinking everyone was 'equal'." 

"Who else?" Arokh asked suddenly. "Of those who chose to follow Navaros, who remains?" 

"Nashiva and Star, Kang-shi and Glaive." Morghus paused, thinking. "And our older sister, Gholek. Her Bonded, the one once known as Dartelan, was killed, and Navaros' servants awoke her without a new Bonding taking place." 

"Like Werokh?" Rynn ventured. 

"We encountered Werokh on the way through to the Islands," Arokh explained in answer to Morghus and Ebontyne's questioning looks. "He's dead." 

Morghus shook his head. "Killing old friends already?" 

Ebontyne resumed her narrative. "The Inner Council of the Dark Union made forays into the eastern frontier," she said, an odd light in her eyes. "You wouldn't believe the nature and power of the magics that were found there. One such power keeps me alive when I would have passed on ages ago." 

"You said you were heading east before," Rynn said. 

Ebontyne nodded. "I was going to end the magic." 

"You mean... die?" 

The War Mage shrugged. "Being alive has gotten boring. You wait centuries for your leader to come back into power, and he gets sent into the Rift again. I don't think I have the patience to wait for next time." 

"But what about Morghus?" 

"I wouldn't mind going to sleep for a while," Morghus said with a toothy grin. 

Rynn stared at them both. 

"Navaros went further east than any of us," Ebontyne said. "This was just after he became the leader of the Dark Union. He took the Jewels of Eternity with him. Those jewels is what the human Bonded used to swear our lives to him. We live without aging because of them. He took them and wasn't seen again until ten years later." 

"The Dragon Temple," Arokh said softly, but his eyes had kindled with anger. Rynn knew what had happened when Navaros had returned. A great gathering of Bonded had been called in a place called the Dragon Temple to welcome Navaros back, for none in the Order had known he was a member of the Dark Union. Navaros had used a Word of Power learnt in his ten year absence... and killed everyone there. 

"The Order of the Flame was not the only thing that suffered betrayal," Morghus rumbled darkly. "Navaros had learned much in the east. Uncovered powers and discovered rituals that should have remained lost. The second betrayal was of his own Bonded, Kaeros." Morghus' eyes flashed with rage. "He _ate_ Kaeros' soul, Arokh. For this act alone, we and the other Bonded would have left him, but he had our lives in his hands too." 

"All he had to do was destroy the Jewels of Eternity and the humans would die, then the dragons would be stone," Ebontyne said. "So we continued to fight for him in the Dark War, hoping that when we won he'd be able to reverse the effects of his spell and free Kaeros." 

"Then Heron sent him to the Rift with Runeblade," Arokh said softly. 

Rynn felt the dragon's body shake slightly against her. Heron had died in that encounter and Arokh fated to sleep for centuries. 

"Few of the Order remained, and most of them tried to hunt us and the other Dark Union Bonded down," Ebontyne said. "Some we killed. The rest... we outlived." 

"And we never found the jewels," Morghus said. "When we gave up looking for them we worked for bringing Navaros back to Drakan, hoping he'd tell us where they were when he returned." He sighed. "It is normal for a dragon to live centuries and more, but for a human... even one strengthened by a Bond, it is not natural." 

"So instead of searching for the jewels again, you want to kill Navaros?" Arokh asked. 

"We spend two hundred years searching, Arokh," Ebontyne told him. "Revenge is the more entertaining prospect." 

"If you want to die so badly, why not kill yourself?" Rynn asked. 

She shrugged. "Thought about it. Could never bring myself to fall on my own sword, though. Or get myself killed in a fight. Perhaps I love life too much, even though I'm sick to death of it." 

Arokh started to tell them what had happened after Rynn had woken him and, at last, she let herself sleep. 


	5. Plans

Plans  __

Plans 

When Rynn awoke the sun had risen behind a filmy curtain of cloud. Ebontyne was crouched nearby, examining something in one mailed hand. Rynn blinked to clear the fuzziness from her eyes, squinted, then jumped to her feet and shouted, "Give that back!" 

Ebontyne calmly held up the Rift Crystal, which Rynn snatched back and returned to the pommel of Runeblade. "Another interesting jewel," the black-armoured woman observed. 

"One I had to go through a lot to get," Rynn replied, stretching. 

"I can imagine." Ebontyne stood, still watching Rynn's face closely. "We knew Rimril had it in his Belltower, and that he'd altered the elemental tests within. Before, there was never a chance of dying. A few of us discovered that had changed the hard way." She shook her head and looked away. "Then the amulet needed to start the test was stolen by goblins." 

"Why were you trying to get the Rift Crystal?" Rynn asked. "In the end, Navaros didn't need it to get out." 

"He didn't get out, though, did he?" Ebontyne gave her another half-smile. "He had physical form only, thanks to his Death Magi. He was still in the Rift. We concentrated our efforts on giving him flesh. Once that was done we could take care of getting him out." 

"That flesh you gave him was my brother," Rynn said softly, eyes narrowing. 

"We gave him young boys from across the land. It was your brother's... misfortune to be selected." She brushed back a drifting strand of black hair. "Arokh says your brother, Delon, fell into the void after Navaros' spirit fled him, and you want to find him." 

Rynn seized on the change of topic. "If we can find someone or something to tell us where in the void he is, we might be able to find him." 

"You realise that Navaros is back in the void too, don't you?" Ebontyne raised a brow. 

Rynn felt her heart freeze. "I thought after killing that four-headed dragon..." 

"Think again." She turned with a swirl of her black cloak and pulled a large pot off the glowing embers of the campfire. 

"Where did you get -" Rynn began, then stopped as Ebontyne willed two serving bowls and spoons into existence. "I suppose a War Mage conjures that kind of thing often," she said as she was handed a bowl of porridge. Her mouth watered at the delicious smell of honey. 

"Pots, sometimes," was Ebontyne's reply. "Useful for boiling oil." 

"We could go east," Morghus said suddenly. The black dragon was stretched out across the ground, flexing his foreclaws in front of him like a large cat. Settling back on his haunches, he added, "Navaros mentioned mirrors that reflected blackness. Windows into the void." 

"That might help," Ebontyne agreed. 

"Where's Arokh?" Rynn asked, just realising her Bonded wasn't in sight. 

"Getting breakfast, I imagine," Morghus said, picking his teeth with a talon. "He probably hasn't eaten in a few hundred years." He looked at Ebontyne again. "You think they can face the dangers out there? Even _we_ couldn't go too deep into the wildlands." 

"I wouldn't worry about your brother, except for that unfortunate incident with the giant yesterday," Ebontyne said, stirring her food with a spoon. "From what he told us last night, he can handle himself." She looked at Rynn. "And so can she, evidently." 

"What kind of dangers are we talking about?" Rynn asked. "Wartoks? War giants? Succubi? Scavengers?" 

"More like gorgons, molochs, daemons and leviathans," Morghus said with a snort of draconic laughter. "Perhaps you should see how good she really is, Ebon. I'm starting to think Arokh was exaggerating if that's all she's faced." 

"I can hold my own," Rynn said. 

Ebontyne shrugged and kept eating. "We'll see. There'll be enough tests of your mettle if we end up going east. The question is, are we companions? We help you rescue your brother, and you help us destroy Navaros." 

"Why do we need your help?" Rynn asked. "All we have to do is search in the east." 

"It will be faster, if not easier, if you have our help," Morghus rumbled. "The monsters that infest the wildlands are not easily killed. More than one dragon and his or her rider have been killed over there. The odds are better if there are four of us. Secondly, we've searched the east for two centuries and found _nothing_." He put heavy emphasis on that word to make his point. "How soon did you want to save Delon? Before he starves?" 

"I think we could use their help," Arokh's voice said. Rynn looked up to see the red dragon circle the camp once then land nearby. He'd obviously found game, as he looked alert and energetic. 

"You trust them after they betrayed the Order of the Flame?" Rynn asked. 

"No," Arokh replied, looking steadily at the other two. "But it sounds like the best chance you'll get if you want to find Delon." 

"What if they're lying about these mirrors and the rest? This could just be a trick to get us to go east!" 

"If they wanted us dead, they would have attacked us before." 

Ebontyne waved a hand and the remnants of breakfast vanished. Morghus shot a breath of ice at the campfire and put it out. The rider then put her helmet on, mounted the dragon and waited silently. 

"Is that why you left me alone with them?" Rynn whispered angrily. "They could have stolen Runeblade and -" 

"I wasn't far." He lowered a wing. "Coming?" 

Rynn climbed up and the two dragons leaped into the air, gained height then flew for the misted sunrise. 


	6. Border of the Eastern Wilds

Border of the Eastern Wilds  __

Border of the Eastern Wilds 

For the first time since being Bonded, Rynn and Arokh enjoyed a long flight without being attacked. Even though Rynn suspected that it was largely a result of Morghus and Ebontyne's presence, she couldn't help feeling grateful. She actually got to look at the scenery for a change. 

The viridian green of a huge forest covering the hills was spread below them, the tops of the trees rustling slightly in the wind. Now and again a bright fleck of colour would flick between the branches. Rynn guessed they were birds. 

Gradually, the further east they went, Rynn realised the trees started to look sickly. The leaves took on a yellow cast, then brown. At last, they were flying above a forest of skeletons. Bare and decaying branches clawed at the sky in mute appeal, their brittle stick-fingers rasping against each other. Instead of brightly feathered birds, Rynn saw vultures and crows. 

"Be on your guard!" Morghus shouted back to them. "We're about to cross the border." 

"I guess that means we'll be attacked," Rynn remarked. "What by, I wonder?" 

Then Morghus was swooping down lower. Still flying east at a good speed, he halted his descent several feet above the treetops, craned his neck down and breathed a steady stream of fire into the skeletal forest. As he climbed back up again, a terrible sound filled the air. 

The trees were screaming. 

From several points in the forest, bolts of lightning shot at the two dragons and their riders. Morghus evaded with the ease of one who's been through this before, then swept down again to burn a section of trees he'd seen an attack come from. Arokh had dodged as well, but hadn't known what to look for. Rynn and he scanned the dead trees through the rising smoke, waiting for another lightning bolt attack to tell them where an enemy was. 

It came soon enough. 

"Hold on!" Arokh shouted. He rolled aside to avoid a bolt then folded his wings and dropped like a stone, headfirst towards the ground. Jaws parting, crimson-gold flames blasted into the forest and caught the dry wood immediately. Ghastly screams rose in response to the inferno. Arokh's wings extended again and they soared up and off to another sentient tree. 

"Arokh!" Morghus shouted after about five minutes of this. The black dragon flew closer to the red, their wingtips almost touching as they glided over the canopy. "We're past it." He broke away abruptly as lightning shot between them from behind. "We're over the border." 

"That wasn't so hard," Arokh said. 

"They're no real danger - not unless you're on the ground. They try to stun you, then if you crash into the ground close enough to any of them they'll try to eat you, whether or not you survived the fall." He pointed east with his head where the forest had ended and a blasted plain of cracked and blackened rock began. "This is the first part of the Wilds. We've already searched it from north to south. If we keep flying east we should eventually reach a swamp. That's where we'll begin." 

"Do we have any idea what to look for?" Rynn shouted. "Navaros didn't hide all his stuff in a building or something?" 

"He's certainly sheltered the things," Ebontyne called back, her voice sounding strange behind the helmet. "But whether that's underground or what... we don't know. Morghus and I acted on the policy that we search every corner." 

"Like a needle in a haystack," Rynn said, but only loud enough for Arokh to hear. "We might have as little chance of finding a mirror or those jewels out here than we did of finding Delon in the Rift." 


	7. The Swamplands

The Swamplands  __

The Swamplands 

A horrible stench assailed their nostrils. It was ten more minutes of flight before they actually saw the beginnings of the swamplands. A thick greenish-grey mist hid the ground from view, and stands of dark green trees rose above it to droop long, ropy leaves back to the ground. A few hillocks stood out like islands in a sea of eerie clouds, and it was one of these that the two dragons descended towards. After checking that it was relatively solid with a prod of a hindclaw, Arokh landed and Morghus followed. 

Rynn dismounted, wrinkling her nose in disgust as her boots made a squishing noise on the ground. Fetid water made small puddles around the imprints her feet had made. She quickly moved away, seeking drier ground, and there was a horrible sucking sound as she lifted her boots free of the gloop. 

"It must have rained recently," Ebontyne said clinically. "High ground is usually drier than this." 

"That's nice to know," Rynn said. "Really nice." 

"We'll start searching the ground," the War Mage said, ignoring the sarcasm. "Morghus, you and Arokh check the surroundings?" 

"We won't be able to see much on the ground," Morghus rumbled warningly. "Want us to look out for airborne foes?" 

"Probably the best idea. If there are any mountains or anything, feel free to check for caves as well. We'll call if we need you." 

The black dragon nodded and was aloft with a beat of his wings. 

"Good luck, Rynn," Arokh said, his eyes telling her to be careful. Then he, too, was up and away. 

Ebontyne took off her helm and let it hang at her back. Then she drew her sword. Rynn felt an irrational sense of foreboding at the sight of it. It was black. Solid black, without any textural patterns to tell if it was steel, stone, wood or crystal. It reflected no light - it was just black. As long and straight as a greatsword, the hilt seemed to describe the shape of a dragon's outstretched wings. 

Rynn suddenly felt none too safe. Even though Arokh seemed to trust them... she lost her train of thought as Ebontyne glanced at her with those intensely blue eyes of hers. 

"Are you coming?" 

Drawing Runeblade, Rynn followed her down the hill and concentrated on trying to keep her footing on the mud-slick slope. "Can't you tell when we're near the jewels or something?" she asked. 

"Yes, actually, but not from very far away." 

Rynn silently reached level ground, her thoughts despondent. This place was huge. There had to be an easier - quicker - way to find what they were looking for. There [i]had[/i] to be. Then her mind reasoned that if there was, Ebontyne wouldn't have spent two hundred years searching so far. 

"What I'm hoping," Ebontyne went on, her eyes scanning the dense swamp plants around them, "is that your sword might be able to help." She parted a few bushes to check what was beyond them. 

"Runeblade?" Rynn glanced at the coldly glittering weapon in surprise. "But Arokh said that all it did was open and close rifts." 

"He might be right." She gestured for Rynn to follow and walked through a bush onto a trail running through the middle of a scummy mire. Somewhere nearby, a frog croaked. "But I think it can also [i]sense[/i] rifts." 

"Why do you think that?" 

"When I looked at it." She threw Rynn a thin-lipped smile. "I was one of the more powerful War Mages in the Order of the Flame, and the third powerful in the Dark Union. I can sense some things... innate powers, you could call them." 

"But we're not looking for a rift," Rynn pointed out as they walked down the trail. "Or do you think Navaros left all those magic things with something that is connected with rifts? The mirror?" 

"That's what I'm hoping," Ebontyne said. "So tell me if it starts doing something weird." 

"Sure thing." She hesitated. "But why... why didn't you just _steal_ Runeblade?" 

Her answer was a mirthless laugh. "There's no guarantee that the jewels are with one of those mirrors. If they aren't, Runeblade is no use to me. I'm not going to use it to open a gate to find Navaros, because Morghus and I have no chance against him. I no longer believe he would simply tell us where to find the jewels, either. But with allies..." she threw Rynn another penetrating look, as it trying to decide whether Rynn had indeed fought Navaros and won. 

Feeling uncomfortable under the scrutiny, Rynn gave her attention to a tentacle-like appendage that was rising from the swamp water to their left. A large eyeball with a blue iris was on the end, and it swivelled to watch the two humans walk. "What's that thing?" 

"No idea. I've never been here before, remember?" Ebontyne watched the creature warily from the corner of her eye, her hand flexing on the hilt of her sword. 

The eyeball-tentacle didn't attack, and they reached the other side of the bog to pass through a curtain of tall reeds. 


	8. Mire of Corruption

Mire of Corruption  __

Mire of Corruption 

"We're going to get some action soon," Ebontyne said in a grim voice. She straightened from examining some tracks in the mud and followed them east, sword ready. 

"Looks like a horse's hooves, only cleft," Rynn observed. 

"Right. And it's not a horse. Unless I'm mistaken..." the War Mage's voice trailed off as the tracks led to a thicket of bushes and vanished. She carefully parted a few branches and tried to look through. With a smile of satisfaction, she gestured for Rynn to look. 

Beyond the swamp plants was a small bog with cloudy blue water. Standing in the muck, its magnificent head bowed to drink the water, was a creature Rynn had never thought existed. "A unicorn," she whispered in wonder. 

The black creature's head lifted suddenly, ears twitching as if it had heard something. It stood perfectly still for a minute, then tossed its single horn and returned to its drink. 

Rynn forced herself to breathe again. "I think it heard me," she said as softly as she could. 

Ebontyne nodded. "Good ears, unicorns. Good fighters, too. Ready?" 

Rynn looked at her quickly. "What? Why are we going to fight it?" 

"It's a black unicorn, Rynn," Ebontyne said, as if that explained everything. When Rynn continued to stare at her, Ebontyne looked irritated. "White unicorns are good and pure, black unicorns are evil and corrupt. Does that answer your question?" She shook her head and muttered, "It's like you're asking why you should fight a scavenger." 

"Oh." Rynn looked into the swamp again. "But it's so beautiful." 

"Many evil things are beautiful." 

"Why should you care about killing evil things?" Rynn asked suddenly. She quickly lowered her voice again as she saw the unicorn's ears twitch. "One would think-" 

"Because _I'm_ evil?" Ebontyne's eyes narrowed. "I'm not evil. I simply had different views to the Order of the Flame." Seeing Rynn wasn't convinced, she shrugged. "We can discuss it later." 

"Why not now?" Rynn suggested suspiciously. 

"Because there's a bloody black unicorn right next to us," Ebontyne hissed. "Would you stop for a chit-chat next to a sleeping blade dragon?" 

A snort came from the black unicorn. Raising its head again, it looked directly at their bushes and swished its tail. "Blade dragons _hardly_ compare to us," it said in a thickly accented voice. 

Ebontyne shot Rynn a dangerous look before pushing through the bushes to face the unicorn. Rynn stayed behind to watch, still slightly stunned that the creature could talk. She'd gotten used to most of her enemies being unintelligible. 

"Oh, it's you, Ebontyne," the unicorn said with a dismissive toss of its mane. "Like my new abode? Better than the Blasted Lands. A unicorn needs water to fuel his powers." 

"Vakailan. It's been too long." Glaring, she started forward with her sword, but the unicorn gave a neigh of laughter. 

"Haven't you learned from the last times? You can't hurt a black unicorn with a shadowshiv." Rynn saw the malice whirling in the dark thing's eyes this time, and suddenly understood what Ebontyne had said about black unicorns. "Evil cannot destroy evil," Vakailan said. Its horse-like face drew into an unmistakable grin. "But I can still destroy you. Morghus isn't here to save you this time." It lowered its head, the pointed horn gleaming silver, and scraped the mud with a front hoof like a bull preparing to charge. 

Ebontyne waited, falling into a half-crouch with her weapon extended before her in both hands. "I have someone else this time." 

"No doubt." Vakailan bared his teeth at Rynn's hiding place. "Humans usually travel in herds. It makes it easier to skewer one when they stand clumped together." 

Rynn set her jaw and pushed through the bushes, Runeblade gleaming in her hands. 

Vakailan laughed and stamped his hooves in the mud. "Just the one, Ebontyne? And with a pretty sword, too." He gave Rynn an appraising look, lingering over Runeblade. A tendril of fear curled in his eyes. "Hm. It appears I'll be at a disadvantage here. What must a black unicorn do to escape a confrontation with Heron's heiress?" 

"Why do you call me that?" Rynn demanded. 

Oozing with eagerness to please, Vakailan said, "You're bonded to Arokh, and you carry Runeblade. Who else could you be?" 

"We're looking for some things," Ebontyne said, apparently unsurprised at Vakailan's sudden chance of attitude. "Same as last time, and a mirror that views the rift." 

"Ah well, as for the Jewels of Eternity, I have no idea." Vakailan cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I know I told you that I knew where they were, but..." 

"I suspected as much," Ebontyne said. "You better be able to tell us something useful, or my friend here will-" 

"All right, all right." Vakailan's nostrils flared nervously. "The mirror you describe isn't that uncommon an item in the Eastern Wilds. What's more, a few magical races can evil conjure such mirror-images in water or other liquids." 

"What races?" Rynn asked, and the unicorn jumped when she spoke. 

"Er, uh... Ogre magi, kobold shamans..." 

"Try a race that will actually speak with humans, Vakailan," Ebontyne suggested. 

"Um, I don't think there _is_... no, wait, wait!" he squealed as Rynn took a menacing step forwards. "East past these swamps is Nowhere. A creature lives in the middle of Nowhere (heh, see that coming?) who has the power to see into the Rift. I don't know if it'll help you, though..." 

"What is it?" Rynn asked. 

"It calls itself an angel. A fallen angel." 

Ebontyne let out a growl. 

"Can I... er... go?" Vakailan said, though he was already edging backwards. 

Rynn looked to Ebontyne, who nodded curtly. The black unicorn didn't need a second gesture. He turned tail and galloped from the swampy clearing to vanish in the mists. 

Ebontyne stood still, frowning, so Rynn waited, pondering her strange new title. Heron's heiress? Didn't sound too bad. Not exactly fearsome, though Vakailan had seemed frightened enough. 

"It's worth a try," Ebontyne said at last. She took off a black gauntlet, put her fingers to her lips and whistled shrilly. "You better call Arokh, Rynn. We're going further east." 

"What makes you think the unicorn was trustworthy?" 

"Because he thinks you'll come back and cut his head off if he plays you false," she said with a faint smile. 

Rynn whistled for Arokh. "What's this fallen angel?" 

"Navaros mentioned it. It's what - or who - he learned that Word of Power from." The War Mage frowned again. "I'm sure Vakailan spoke the truth - the fallen angel will have the power to tell us what we want to know. Morghus and I would have sought it long ago, but we had no idea where to look. What concerns me now is the price it will ask for what we seek." 

Despite the humidity, Rynn felt a chill course through her. "What did it ask of Navaros?" Ebontyne shook her head and didn't answer, instead watching the skies for the two dragons. Her brow furrowing slightly, Rynn could only guess that she either didn't know, or didn't want to speak of it. 

From what little she knew of Navaros, she was willing to bet it was the second. And what value had anything to an angel, save perhaps a soul? 


	9. Battle

Battle  __

Battle 

Several minutes passed and the dragons didn't show up. The hitherto constant buzzing of insects and croaking of frogs had all but fallen into dead silence. 

Neither woman had to say it. Something was coming. They stood back to back and scanned the surrounding bushes, watching, waiting and listening. 

Suddenly, a head appeared above the bushes to the north. It was large, brutish and green. Two pointed fangs - more like tusks - jutted up from its lower lip. Small yellow eyes watched the humans with dull interest, and two more heads appeared beside the first. 

Sniffing, one of the creatures pushed through the bushes and into the swampy clearing. It had a very man-like body, if one ignored the green colour, thick-looking skin, long limbs (like an ape, Rynn thought) and bulging muscles. Staring at the humans, it sniffed again. Then it started to drool. 

"Watch it," Ebontyne said, turning to fully face the monster. "They look like some breed of troll." 

It attacked. Jumping forward rather clumsily, it threw a punch at Ebontyne's face. Ebontyne merely leaned back and hacked at the arm with her shadowy sword, severing it just below the elbow. Bellowing in pain, it stumbled back with its arm leaking a blackish-green ichor. The other two monsters garbled angrily and smashed through the bushes into the clearing. One shambled towards Ebontyne and the other to Rynn. 

Rynn circled left a little, quickly realising that she'd have to get in close to make a killing stroke. The monster had too much reach on her, even though she had Runeblade. But the monster was evidently unconcerned about its advantage. It charged right at her, both arms clawing out as if to grab her into a crushing embrace. She ducked under them, using her lesser height instead, and darted to one side. Runeblade lashed out to cut its side then bite into a thigh before she leaped back out of reach. It howled and swung a hand over her head, almost spinning itself around. Darting in, Rynn thrust Runeblade into its side and up into its chest. 

Two powerful hands suddenly grabbed her around the throat from behind and lifted her up, choking and weaponless. As suddenly as the strangulation had begun, it ended. Ebontyne's sword cut through both wrists in one stroke and Rynn dropped to the mud, tearing the dead fingers from her neck. 

"What's going on?" Ebontyne shouted hoarsely. 

"What?" Rynn coughed. "What d'you..?" She stopped and looked around. The closest troll was stumbling away in pain with two stumps in place of its hands. Another troll, fully capable, was standing on the edge of the swamp and snarling brainlessly. The third had just thrown Rynn's sword into the mud. _The bleeding wound in its side was regenerating by itself._

Ebontyne singled out the handless monster and pointed at it with her sword. She said something, and a burst of searing red flames leaped from the point and engulfed it in a roaring cloud. 

"Maybe decapitation will work," Rynn said, eyeing her own recovering monster. 

"It doesn't." Ebontyne pointed at the monster watching them, then at a head half-buried in the mud. "I already tried." More fire blasted from her sword and took down the troll. "Looks like they're flammable. Toast yours, Rynn." 

"I... don't know how!" Rynn ducked as her creature attacked her again then threw herself at Runeblade. Her hands wrapped around the hilt and she rolled over in the mud. Ebontyne was now fighting the last monster, but was being forced back. She was perspiring heavily and didn't look too steady on her feet. At the last, Ebontyne ducked and thrust her sword up into the monster's stomach. She jumped away just as the weapon burst into flames, and its victim with it. 

Gasping for breath, the War Mage glanced at Rynn. "Little help?" she said with heavy sarcasm. 

Rynn got up, feeling useless. "I'm sorry. I just..." she wiped mud from her armour. "I don't know any magic." 

Ebontyne scoffed. "You serious?" 

"Before I was living off magic crystals and potions." 

"Hm, perhaps I should teach you something then." Rubbing at her sweaty brow, she said, "Fire is usually easiest - it's fuelled by strong emotions, like anger and hate. Usually you channel these emotions to form words, or curses." She smiled a little, grimly. "Instead of doing that, or keeping it bottled inside you, try and force it through your hands." 

Rynn raised a brow. "My hands? I'll... keep that in mind." She fished Ebontyne's sword out of the grimy ashes. Handing it over, she asked, "Are you all right?" 

"Yeah, I'll live." It was a bit hard to tell if she was happy about that or not. 

A little later the two dragons appeared. Ebontyne sent up a signal above the mists to show where they were, and Arokh and Morghus landed in the swamp. 

"It's about time you showed up," Rynn said, mounting. "What kept you?" 

"We were being attacked. They looked like harpies," Morghus said, "only significantly harder to kill. We didn't find anything useful, by the way." 

"We did," Ebontyne told him. "Remember Vakailan? He told us where to find the fallen angel. That's where we're going now." 


	10. The Middle of Nowhere

The Middle of Nowhere  __

The Middle of Nowhere 

Night fell and the swamps gave way to a jet-black landscape completely devoid of hill or gully. Flat as a swordblade, it went off in all directions under the star-filled sky. Far off, though, they could see something like a large fire burning. They flew towards it, and it felt like hours passed before it got any closer. There was absolutely nothing out there except for that fire. 

On closer inspection, it wasn't exactly a fire. It was a pair of wings; each burning feather a tongue of flame. The wings sprouted from the shoulders of a humanoid figure who was sitting on the black ground, its forehead pressed to its drawn-up knees and its arms wrapped around itself. 

"That must be it," Rynn heard Ebontyne say. "Think we should go down?" 

It felt strange having the woman ask her opinion on a course of action, but Rynn didn't hesitate to reply. "Yes." 

The dragons descended through the windless air and landed before the winged being. Even sitting and hunched over, it was equal to either dragon's height. 

"What do you want?" a soft and melodious voice demanded. 

Rynn remained seated on Arokh, and called, "I want to find someone within the Rift. Two people," she amended with a glance at Ebontyne. "We were hoping you could open a window or something so we could see where they are." 

"This is a paltry task," the voice whispered contemptuously. 

"Nevertheless, it's why we're here," Ebontyne told the being. "Is there a price?" 

"Always." It was silent for a moment. "I will do as you ask for the soul crystal of a living elder dragon - one that lives, breathes and flies, one that is neither dead nor sleeping in stone." It raised its dark head. Pinpoints of silver light blazed where its eyes should be, and they regarded Arokh and Morghus with an intense, expectant hunger. "Do you accept?" it whispered. 

Rynn suppressed a shudder, but Ebontyne didn't. The price was a dragon's soul crystal. A dragon's soul. "That's... still a high price," she ventured. 

"Even the fallen must eat," the angel said in its soft voice. 

There was bound to be a dragon out there they could take a soul crystal from. An evil dragon, like Werokh. Rynn considered. "I accept the terms." 

"I will await delivery." The angel lowered its head to its knees again and folded its fiery wings around itself like a huge bat. 

"I hope you don't intend to use _my_ dragonstone," Morghus snarled at Rynn. "How could you agree to something like that?" 

"We'll find a bad dragon," Rynn reasoned. "One that's-" she caught herself before suggesting a dragon in the Dark Union, figuring that wouldn't go down too well, "-one that's just... evil." 

"Pah!" The black dragon turned its head away in disgust. "The price is too high. Bartering away a dragon's soul for the life of a humanling and the death of the Betrayer." 

Ebontyne said, "Apart from Morghus and Arokh, there are only three living elder dragons that I know of. We already told you about them before, Rynn. Nashiva, Kang-shi and Gholek." 

"You're going along with this?" Morghus growled at her. 

"I am. And so will you." 

Morghus fumed, then glared at Rynn. "As Ebontyne said. Of those three, only Gholek is unbound. Nashiva, Kang-shi and their riders broke from the Dark Union like we did when you defeated Navaros. I don't know about Gholek. She _might_ be 'evil', but..." he looked at Arokh uncomfortably. 

"But she's our sister," the red dragon supplied quietly. "What do you want us to do, Rynn?" 

Rynn hesitated. She was this close to finding her brother. _This close_. "Let's pay Gholek a visit. Then we'll decide." 


	11. Westward Bound

Westward Bound  __

Westward Bound 

The flight back to friendly airs was not easy. Night seemed to be the worst time to be caught in the Eastern Wilds; all sorts of creatures were awake... and hungry. The small group was attacked often by monsters both common and bizarre, weak and powerful. A couple of times they were even driven north or south by foes too strong to best. 

It took almost all night to reach the border. They were fleeing from a winged, three-headed monstrosity at the time, and didn't realise they were crossing over before bolts of lightning flashed from ground to sky from the sentient trees. 

Morghus screeched, the tip of one wing scored. Rynn saw his whole left wing go limp all of a sudden, and the dragon dropped as he vainly tried to stay aloft. 

"Hold on, Rynn," Arokh shouted. "I'll try and draw the trees' fire." He streaked towards the ground, darting between the bolts that headed his way. "Hopefully Morghus will recover soon eno-" 

Three simultaneous screams cut the air and a gigantic form, wings and multiple heads outlined by the stars, started down after the falling black dragon and his rider. 

"Uh oh," Rynn whispered. 

Another bolt of stunning light struck Morghus and his limbs ceased their struggling. He fell, lacking even the strength to shout for help. 

"Burn the trees under him!" Rynn shouted desperately. "He'll be all right so long as none of the trees get him. Burn them!" 

"No," Arokh said. "Ice! When they crash the trees will shatter." He beat his wings powerfully and flew low. A torrent of freezing water hissed from his jaws, completely covering all it touched. Everything beneath Morghus was frozen solid, glittering ice in the starlight. Arokh got out of the way just as the black dragon smashed into the ground. Shards went flying everywhere, but it didn't look like any trees were trying to eat dragon or rider. 

Arokh craned his head upward and breathed out an immense barrage of boiling magma at the malignant shadow that had been chasing them then flew aside, gaining height to draw the creature away. 

It worked. The monster darted after them with all three heads snarling, but it didn't look like it had a breath weapon of its own. Its speed and three pairs of razor claws more than made up for that. It was faster than Arokh, who had to swerve and evade as often as he could to keep out of range. His smaller size meant manoeuvrability, and he'd use that to its full extent. 

The creature wasn't the only thing to evade, however. 

Lightning struck Arokh in the head. Rynn's vision was abruptly gone, lost in a swirl of brightness. Then it was back again. With an odd feeling of disconnection, she watched the ocean of leaves rush up to embrace them. Unconscious the second Arokh hit the ground, she never felt herself thrown from his back and against a broad trunk of a tree... 

* * *

__

Why do I feel like I'm hanging upside-down..? 

Rynn shook the vague thought from her mind and tried to move. She couldn't. Something was wrapped around her like a snake, pinning her arms to her sides and trapping her legs. She opened her eyes, but something was covering them, too. Taking a deep breath, she struggled a bit harder and felt herself swing with the motion. 

She _was_ upside-down, and hanging from her legs. 

"Arokh?" she tried to say, but something was in her mouth. Tentatively, she pushed at it with her tongue. Rough, cool and thick. Like... a vine? 

__

The trees. 

She struggled harder, trying to break the living cords twined around her, but only swung like a piece of fruit. In frustration, she clamped her jaw down hard on the vine in her mouth and only succeeded in hurting her teeth. It was too tough; she had barely made a mark on it. 

"Arokh!" She tried shouting, then froze. 

Was it her imagination, or had she felt herself rise fractionally? 

The feeling came again. 

"_AROKH_!" 

She didn't hear a reply. Panic started to set in, and she twisted even more, tried to bend her body, free a hand... anything but this feeling of deep helplessness. 

Helplessness and fear. 

The bit around her eyes slipped a little. Breathing as much as the tight binding around her chest would allow, she peered through the tiny crack. It was light, and there were only tree branches to be seen. She tried to cant her head back, to see the ground. There... far below her. And a massive, vine-wrapped shape was only just beginning to be dragged into the air by thick green cords. 

__

Arokh. 

He wouldn't even be able to open his mouth to breathe fire, she thought in despair. Was he strong enough to break free? Was he even awake? 

The green shape jerked suddenly. Rynn watched, hardly daring to hope as Arokh's talons sliced their way free. The tree screamed and the vines wrapping Arokh tightened. Rynn felt the dragon's pain, the terrible pressure on his trapped wings. If not for the vine in her mouth, she'd have cried out in agony. 

It stopped after a few seconds and she was left breathless, strengthless. She felt herself rise a few more inches closer to... to what? Did trees have mouths? Bracing herself, she looked up into a writhing nest of snakelike vines surrounding a circular hollow in the trunk. Row upon row of pointed teeth lined the inside of that hole, and a translucent slime oozed down from it like sap. Rynn saw that her feet were almost within reach of that mouth before she couldn't hold herself up like that any longer, and let her upper body swing down again with a choked gasp. 

The blood rushing to her head was starting to make her feel dizzy. "_Don't stop struggling, Arokh_," she pleaded silently. "_Keep fighting..._" She jerked with pain as Arokh began fighting again, his talons tearing through more vines. A foreleg was free... it clawed at the bonds around his neck and head, his movements weak with the agony it was costing him, but his talons efficient anyway. More vines fell to the ground in great coils, then he stopped. 

Rynn's silent prayer of thanks at the surcease of pain was cut short as she felt something iron-hard grasp her ankles and drag her up further. She bowed her body and looked up again. 

Her feet were in its mouth and it was chewing at the dragon armour protecting her legs. 

"_AROKH, HELP_!" 

Panicking, she tried to kick but the fangs held her as securely as the vines had. Below, Arokh renewed the struggle to free himself. He breathed fire across his bonds and they started to wither away, the tree shrieking in pain and fury. 

"Rynn! Where are you?" 

Struggling weakly, Rynn attacked the vine in her mouth to no avail. Tears sprang to her eyes and she cursed herself. They blinded her almost as well as the vines. She tried to swing, but by now her back was against the trunk. She was too high for him to notice... another bundle of green in the canopy. The pressure on her ankles increased to the point of pain 

Desperate, she writhed her hands instead of trying to call out... and a funny thing happened. At first, her hands just started to get warm. Then they got hot, almost as if they were burning. 

__

Magic... Ebontyne's fire magic! 

Fresh determination swept through her and she focussed every thought on her hands. Fire blazed from her fingertips with a roar. The vines wrapping her from waist to head crisped and fell away, the pressure on her ankles vanishing as the tree's mouth widened in a unearthly scream. Quickly, Rynn wrenched open the scabbard tab holding her sword in its sheath and drew Runeblade with a rasp of glittering steel. She swung once, aware that her spell had alerted Arokh to where she was, and cut the remaining vines holding her up in the air. 

Arokh caught her in his foreclaws as she fell, then landed back on the forest floor to let her down. "I feared for you," the dragon said in concern. "That was too close." 

Rynn sheathed her blade and stretched, relishing the freedom of movement. "Way too close," she agreed. "Did you see my magic?" she added, pride chasing away the terror of the past moments. 

A relieved smile curved his jaws. "Of course. I was wondering when you'd figure out how to use your powers. Couldn't have come at a better time." 

Stunned, the young woman gaped at him. "You knew I had them?" 

He laughed, absently clawing at an ambitious vine. "When you were taking your test in the Belltower, it was all Rimril talked to me about. If you hadn't passed, he was going to offer to train you as an Archmage." 


	12. Canyon

Canyon  __

Canyon 

When they felt ready, Arokh flew up to the top of the canopy and looked around for the three-headed monster, but there was no sign of it. With Rynn on his back, he shot past the treeline and up into the sky, twisting aside as lightning once again shot at him. He flew a couple of ragged circles as Rynn scanned the forest for Morghus and Ebontyne. 

"I can see the place where you froze the trees," Rynn shouted to him, holding tight as he tilted to one side. "But there's no one there." 

"Maybe we should take a closer look?" 

They did, but Rynn was right. No one was there. The trees bordering the frozen clearing weren't holding any vine-wrapped bundles either, so it could only be assumed that Morghus and Ebontyne had escaped. 

Rynn and Arokh ascended again and resumed the journey west. They'd crossed the border and were flying above the skeleton forest when a black shape took off from the ground a short distance north. 

"It's them," Arokh said, stopping to fly in one place. "What happened?" he roared to the approaching pair. 

"When we regained consciousness," Morghus replied, still gaining height, "there was no sign of either of you. We didn't burn the forest for fear of frying either of you, so we crossed the border and waited here." He hovered next to his brother. "I take it you got away unharmed." 

"Barely," Arokh told him. "Lead on to Gholek's and we'll tell you what happened." 

* * *

The flight took them to a mountainous area with scanty vegetation. It was all very bare and rocky, but Rynn wasn't observing the scenery. After Ebontyne had learned of her successful fire spell, the War Mage had offered to teach her some more magic. "After all," she said, "the more you know, the more chance we'll have of destroying Navaros." 

So from dragonback, the tutelage had begun. They had focussed on fire at first. Rynn learned that this was the easiest element to summon so long as emotions were running high. For this reason, though, the resultant flames could often be hard to control and unpredictable in their intensity. Ebontyne thought the magical fire might have some relation to the emotions fuelling it. Pretty soon, Rynn was excitedly throwing small fireballs into the sky. Arokh wryly asked Ebontyne if he'd become obsolete when she was finished with her. 

The second element they tried was water, which was usually just as easy as fire for the reason that human bodies contained so much of it. Ebontyne demonstrated by creating a large globe of water between her outspread hands, then tossing it aside. Rynn watched it fall like an oversized drop of water to make a tremendous splash across a cliff. 

"Just remember to draw the water out of the air, not yourself or Arokh, or me or Morghus," Ebontyne warned her. "You don't want to dry any of us up, nor kill yourself. Don't think that water magic isn't without its dangers just because it can't incinerate you." 

"Do you ever use water magic to fight things?" Rynn asked, frowning as she tried to duplicate Ebontyne's spell. 

"Sometimes. Ice spells are most useful against monsters born of fire, like hellhounds or efreetis. But knowledge of water is crucial for healing spells." 

"Like making potions?" 

"No, that's entirely different. To heal someone, all you need is your own strength. If you have power over water you have power over blood. If you can control air, you can make someone breathe. If you know how earth works, you can mend bones. A combination of all three of these magics can make one a potent healer." 

"But not fire?" Rynn beamed as a water globe blossomed between her hands, then threw it overboard. 

Ebontyne nodded her appreciation of the spell, and said, "No, fire has never been used in actual healing. It can be useful to cauterise wounds, but skilled healers have no need of that. Their magic can close the wound and heal it just as fast." 

"Are there only the four elements? When I was in Rimril's Belltower, I got the impression there was one more." 

"One more, reserved for those who have mastered the other four. They were still trying to figure out a name for it when I was in the Order," she added with a faint smile. "Rift, void, ether, spirit..." she shrugged. "You get what I mean." 

"So which elements are you able to control?" Rynn asked curiously. 

"And which can I teach you?" Ebontyne raised a brow, but her smile was a little more genuine. "Fire, water and earth comprise a War Mage." 

"Navaros is a War Mage, isn't he?" 

"As categorised by the Order of the Flame. I think he's gone somewhat beyond that, however. There's no name for what he is now." 

A canyon opened beneath them and the dragons paused above it. 

"See them?" Morghus asked. 

"I do," Arokh said. "You take the left and we'll handle the right?" 

"Sounds good." 

They flew down and veered off to either side of the canyon, fire pouring from their jaws. Rynn saw a wartok ballista explode and debris went everywhere. Arokh evaded a flying spar and a volley of ballast before attacking another war engine. Its wartok crew went running and the red dragon flew in, tore the ballista from its foundations and threw it after them. 

"Ooh, wait, there's a cave," Rynn shouted, hitting Arokh's massive shoulder. "Drop me off. I want to look around." 

"I'll come back when the other ballistae are destroyed," Arokh said, and dropped down level with a projecting ledge. "Watch out for those wartoks." 

Rynn stood carefully and jumped to the ledge. "I will." She drew Runeblade and made her way past the wreckage of the last ballista as Arokh flew off again. The cave was an unnatural opening, she noticed. Wooden beams supported it, and she could see a lantern burning inside. She snuck inside, glancing around. A wartok was limping down the single passage, its back to her. She stole after it, quickly and quietly, then dispatched it from behind. Taking a red potion of healing from its belt, she crept further down the passage and reached a medium-sized cave. 

Three orcs and lots of crates and barrels. A storage cave, she decided. Most of the ballistae would have one of these, probably. She hoped she'd find something useful in here besides ballast and wartok rations. 

Rynn jumped into the room and spun, Runeblade cutting a silver circle in the air. Two of the orcs fell instantly with loud cries, the third scrabbled backwards and seized a spear. The creature thrust it at her and she swung her sword down onto the shaft. The spear broke in half, and its owner, grunting angrily, charged at Rynn with its fists. 

Rynn killed it, absently wondering how stupid an orc could actually be. Then she had a search through the barrels. There _was_ a great deal of stuff that was useless to her, but one crate yielded some longbows and yet another several quivers of varying types of arrows. Smiling triumphantly, Rynn shouldered two of the bows and stripped the rest of their strings, which she put in a pouch and attached to her belt. She went through the quivers and put as many arrows as she could into two of them, which she picked up and carried out of the cave. 

The others were waiting outside. "All done?" Rynn asked. 

"Gholek's cave is at the end of the canyon and the way is clear," Morghus said. 

"What did you find?" Ebontyne asked. 

"Supplies." Rynn grinned and handed her one of the bows and quivers before jumping astride Arokh. "They might come in useful. Now I can actually do something when we're fighting a flying enemy." 

"That was the idea of learning magic," Ebontyne reminded her. 

"Well, I might be too tired to use magic." 

Ebontyne sighed. 

"Let's go," Rynn said, and they flew deeper into the canyon. Down the bottom and at the furthest end was a yawning cave with stalactites lining its top lip. A good deal of green smoke was hissing from the opening, and it sent both humans and dragons into a fit of coughing. 

"Gas," Arokh muttered. "Maybe we should just try calling her and see if she'll come out." When the others nodded he took a deep breath of fresh air then roared into the cave, "_Gholek_!" 


	13. Gholek's Lair

Gholek's Lair  __

Gholek's Lair 

"It's so hard to get good guards these days," a draconic, yet definitely feminine voice grumbled from inside the cave. "Wartoks aren't that bright to begin with, but it isn't _that_ hard to hit something as big as a dragon with a ballista." A pair of fiery eyes with a strange green cast to them appeared in the gas-choked darkness. "Who are my visitors?" The eyes came closer, blinking a couple of times at the light outside, and the outline of a head appeared. It tilted to one side in a gesture of curiosity. "Arokh? Morghus? Why are you here?" 

"Nice to see you too, sister," Morghus said dryly. 

"I see you're both still Bonded." Gholek's head and part of her neck came forward into the light, which glinted off her dark green scales. Arching an eyeridge at Arokh, she drew back into the shadows again. "Well? Why are you here?" 

Morghus kept his expression carefully blank as Arokh said, "What has occupied you of late, Gholek?" 

She laughed and more gases leaked from the cave in an emerald cloud. "For the sake of idle chatter, I guard a portal to a section of the Betrayer's holdings in my lair. I hunt. I sleep." 

"So you serve Navaros?" Rynn dared to ask. 

Gholek's eyes narrowed at her. "Interesting choice, Arokh. From Heron to a peasant." 

__

Just like Werokh, Rynn thought, keeping her temper. _Let Arokh do the talking._

"She passed the test of the Tower," Arokh said. "Rynn is more than worthy to be my rider." 

The green dragon sniffed. "Mm hm. Listen, brother, if you're looking to come this way you're going to have to come in and kill me. As your human guessed, I serve Navaros. I'm pretty sure that you don't." She disappeared. 

"There we have it," Rynn said. 

"You call that evil?" Morghus snapped. "She's not doing anything unless we try to-" 

"Morghus," Ebontyne said sharply, and her dragon fell silent. "She serves the Betrayer, and that's bad enough for me. We _are_ trying to kill him." She looked at Rynn. "How do you propose to get in there and-" she lowered her voice, "-get Gholek's dragonstone?" 

Rynn dismounted and took a few steps closer to the cave. Her eyes started to water and her throat feel strange, so she crouched and kept going a bit before coming back. "The gas is acting like smoke. If I keep close to the ground it won't affect me so badly." 

"Great," Morghus growled. "And if Gholek _does_ attack you, you think you can crawl faster than she can walk?" 

"I'll be careful, and I'll handle this one on my own." 

"We'll wait for you here," Arokh said, and Rynn crawled into the huge cave entrance. 

It was slow going, and she had to be careful not to drag her knees across the stone or her armour rasped loudly in the silence. What's more, she started to wish she'd left her bow and arrows outside, as they had the habit of tangling her legs. She kept going, keeping close to the wall, and heading toward what seemed to be a source of light. 

It was a large crystal of grimstone punching through the ground. The lambent green stuff let of a foul smell and Rynn went around it as swiftly as she could while holding her breath, but there was more behind it. The cave was full of it, which was an unexpected danger. Too much exposure to grimstone could drain a human's will and turn you into a mindless drone. 

Time suddenly became an even more important factor. She crawled down the first branching passage she found, large enough for a dragon, and followed it to the end. In the far wall of the cave was a large, circular portal - big enough for a dragon to fly through. 

"And an insect crawls into the web," a draconic voice rumbled. Gholek had been waiting beside the entrance to the cave, and her neck stretched around the corner for her flaming green-tinged eyes to stare intimidatingly at Rynn. "Perhaps I'll have some wartoks revive Arokh to keep me company once I've made you a meal." 

Rynn hurriedly backed up and the dragon chuckled softly. 

"Foolish human-thing." A hissing cloud of poisonous gas filled the tunnel and Rynn, holding her breath, jumped to her feet with her eyes shut and fled blindly back the way she'd come. When she hit a wall, she dropped to the ground and opened her eyes before sucking in a breath. 

She coughed. 

"I hear you, insect." 

Rynn rolled behind an outcrop of grimstone and made herself as small as she could. The green dragon's head and neck came through the tunnel then lowered, like a hound picking up a scent. The sensitive nostrils twitched and Gholek smiled unpleasantly. She looked right at Rynn's hiding place. 

"You think you can escape me?" 

Taking another gasp of breath, Rynn fled further down the main passage as Gholek breathed out more gas. She was like a large cat playing with a mouse, Rynn thought as she ducked down another corridor and threw herself onto hands and knees. She was taking her time trying to kill her prey, enjoying the chase and the taunting too much. A fatal error for any villain, but this one didn't know it. Gholek thought Rynn was trying to get through the portal she was guarding, not trying to steal her soul crystal, otherwise she might have tried killing Rynn when she had the chance. 

As fate had it, Rynn next found herself in the heart of Gholek's lair - where her dragonstone stood glittering in a green crystalline altar. It would have been like that since she'd been wakened from her sleep of stone. Hearing the heavy footfalls of the dragon behind her, Rynn stood and ran to the pedestal. Grabbing the soul crystal with both hands, she pulled. 

It didn't budge. 

__

Oh no... 

"What are..?" Gholek entered the cave. But instead of the scream of rage and cloud of death Rynn had expected, the dragon's face seemed to crumple with confusion. "Are you... trying to free me?" 

Rynn stared at her. "I..." Then she noticed that the altar was made of grimstone. "What happened here?" 

Gholek bowed her head and sighed. "I don't know how Navaros' lackeys engineered it, but they changed my pedestal to as you see it now then put my soul crystal in it. It woke me, but... but I am a prisoner. A slave to the grimstone and to Navaros. I could never leave, and it wasn't just because of the wartoks outside." She came closer and indicated the altar with her head. "I tried breaking it with every power I possess, but nothing worked." 

Rynn felt her heart returning to its normal rate. Carefully, she asked, "How are you a slave to Navaros? Do you _have_ to guard these caves?" 

"I can't leave them because my altar is made of grimstone and my soul crystal is bound to it. But as time wears away, so does the grimstone that 'grows' in these caves. I become weakened, even insane, as the grimstone crystals fade. Navaros keeps me guarding his damn portal by his control over the grimstone. His creatures can bring more, or keep it away." She shuddered from head to tail. "Perhaps it is weak and pathetic of me to admit it, but I _need_ grimstone. The insanity... is horrible." Her green-tinged eyes lit up. "But you could change that. You could free me." 

"I can try," Rynn said sympathetically. "Do you have any idea how?" 

"You can try breaking the altar," Gholek suggested dubiously, "but I don't know how, since I couldn't." 

"Don't you _need_ the altar?" 

"No, not unless I plan to re-Bond." The green dragon smiled ruefully. "I don't think I care to make myself vulnerable to this kind of torture again." 

"Let me try my sword." Rynn drew Runeblade and smashed it into the altar. It produced a long scratch, but nothing more. Gathering herself again, she brought the weapon down with all her strength. The grimstone screeched and a deeper fissure marred the surface. "I think this will work." 

"That's Runeblade," Gholek whispered, her eyes widening. "Heron's sword." 

Rynn grunted and chopped at the altar again, swung the sword back and struck a fourth time. Bits of the altar broke off in large chunks. She kept at it like a lumberjack to a log, careful not to hit the soul crystal. Suddenly, green lightning seemed to shoot through the altar. The whole structure glowed brightly for a minute, then went dark and grey. In the abrupt darkness, Rynn heard Gholek catch her breath sharply. 

Rynn fumbled at the broken altar and found the soul crystal. It pulled free from the shattered remnants easily. "I got it," she said softly. 

"Oh, Rynn," Gholek whispered, wonder in her voice. Her eyes glowed like true fire; the emerald glow that had poisoned it gone. "I'm _free_. Thank you. Thank you..." 


	14. A Bargain Fulfilled

A Bargain Fulfilled  __

A Bargain Fulfilled 

"It's a relief to see you well again," Morghus said, smiling. "I had no idea." 

Gholek gave her younger brothers a tired grin and stretched in the sunlight. "Shaking off the effects of the grimstone itself might take a bit longer, but I feel much better." She touched the soul crystal she'd attached to a cord and hung around her own neck and added, "Rynn told me what she'd been planning to do. I'm almost sorry I wasn't evil. You'd all be on your way to give Navaros what he deserves." Rynn tried to smile, but the ancient green wasn't fooled. "You can still take my dragonstone if you wish, Rynn. Almost anything will be worth knowing he's gone forever." 

"No, Gholek, I can't." Rynn shook her head. "Maybe selling a dragon's soul is the wrong idea." 

"But it's the only way you know of," Gholek reminded her gently. She held out the soul crystal again. "And you'll be able to save your brother." She gave Rynn a sad smile. "I haven't been in possession of my soul for a long time, anyway. Just promise me that once it's gone for good, you'll come back and end my life." 

Rynn took the crystal and swallowed hard. "I promise." 

"It will take us about half a day to get to the fallen angel," Arokh told his sister. 

"Six hours," Gholek murmured. Rynn saw the momentary fear in her eyes, heard the tremor in her voice. The dragon drew herself up slowly. "Well, I better make the most of it. May fortune favour you all." She jumped into the air with a single powerful downstroke of her wings, and was gone. 

* * *

"We have returned with your price." 

The fallen angel rose to its feet, wings unfurling. It was very tall and thin, featureless but for the glowing silver eyes, man-shaped body and feathers of fire. It extended one shadowy hand and Rynn, after one slight hesitation, threw the soul crystal up to it. 

The angel gripped the dragonstone in its hand and a green light ran up its arm. It surrounded its whole body, and the humans and dragons shivered, imagining they heard Gholek scream as her soul was devoured. The glow faded and the angel let out a satisfied sound. Its fist opened and a fine dust fell from its fingers - all that remained of Gholek's soul crystal. 

Without pausing, it flung its dark arms wide and a large ring appeared in the air between it and the small party. "Name who you wish me to find," the being commanded. 

"My brother Delon," Rynn said at once. "He fell into the Rift. Where is he now?" 

The ring was suddenly filled with blackness, and in that black a falling figure appeared. 

"That's him!" Rynn exclaimed. She touched the Rift Crystal in the pommel of Runeblade. "You better be able to find him now," she whispered to it, staring at her brother. The vision continued for a few more seconds, then vanished. The circle was empty again. 

"And the other being?" the fallen angel asked softly. 

"Navaros the Betrayer," Ebontyne said. 

The creature chuckled darkly. "That one I may not detect. I sense the location of beings through their souls, and he no longer has one." 

"You must have some idea," Ebontyne demanded angrily. "We paid you to-" 

Eyes flashing, the creature folded its arms. "You could have told me who you wanted to find beforehand. It is short-sightedness on your part, not mine." It leaned over them. "Or do you wish to dispute that?" 

Ebontyne wouldn't be cowed. "If you can't find Navaros, then will you tell me where something else is?" 

The angel straightened again. "Ask." 

"You detect people by finding where their souls are." She took a deep breath, sitting rigid on Morghus' back. "Mine is bound to a Jewel of Eternity. I want to know where that jewel is. My name is Ebontyne, Bonded of Morghus." 

Even though they couldn't see it, Rynn felt sure the fallen angel was smiling. "That particular soul-jewel has not existed for centuries, human." 

What colour was in Ebontyne's face drained away. "What do you mean?" 

In a deliberately cruel voice, the angel said, "Didn't your precious Navaros tell you? For what I gave him, he not only traded me his own soul but the soul of every dragon-rider that had used a Jewel of Eternity. You are sustained only by the soul of your dragon, Bonded of Morghus. You will pass on when he does." The creature sat down again and drew its knees to its chest. "Our business is done." 

"We can still get Navaros," Arokh told Ebontyne firmly, but she was staring at the angel with a look of defeat. "Morghus, talk to her." 

"Ebontyne," Morghus said. "Do you still want to go after Navaros?" 

"Yes." She shook herself. "Yes, of course I do. Let's get Rynn's brother first." 

"Let's get some height," Rynn said, and the dragons took off. When they were up a bit, Rynn raised Runeblade and concentrated as hard as she could on the scene the fallen angel had shown them. "Take us to my brother!" she shouted, and swung the shining sword down. 

A blast of ethereal winds buffeted them as the Rift opened - a swirling vortex of dark colours. Morghus folded his wings and dropped through the dancing energies, then Arokh followed. 


	15. It's Good To Be Back...

"It's good to be back __

"It's good to be back..." 

Cold winds blew. Arokh and Morghus dropped through the blackness, their riders relying on their eyes to find Delon. He couldn't have fallen far, and he could only have gone down... Runeblade _had_ to have taken them to the right place. 

Rynn held on to Arokh and her desperate hope, eyes straining to see even though she knew her efforts were futile. She tried calling her brother's name once, but there had been no response. 

Down they flew, deeper into the endless night and the increasing cold... 

"I see him!" Arokh shouted. "Rynn, I see him!" 

"Delon!" Rynn shouted eagerly. "Can you hear me?" 

Still her brother didn't reply. 

"I think he's unconscious," Morghus roared. "I'll grab him. Rynn, open a gate to get us out of here. We can decide what to do next when he recovers." 

Rynn heard the sweep of his wings as Morghus sped after Delon. 

"He has him," Arokh said after a few seconds. "Open the Rift, Rynn. Let's get out of here." 

Rynn complied, and the swirling portal appeared above her. She waited stubbornly for Morghus and Ebontyne to leave with Delon first, then Arokh went after them. The gate snapped shut as they left. 

* * *

They had returned to Drakan in a field of short grass. Once landed, Rynn almost flew from Arokh's back to see her brother. His eyes were shut tight and his breathing shallow, his skin cold to the touch, but that didn't stop her from hugging him fiercely. Wiping away tears, Rynn gratefully accepted Ebontyne's cloak to wrap around him and cushion his head. 

Then the two women and dragons crept a short distance away to leave him in peace. 

"What do you plan to do now?" Ebontyne asked softly. "Your brother is safe. Will you help us find and put an end to Navaros?" 

"I want to get him somewhere secure first," Rynn said after a moment's thought, "but I'm willing to help. Arokh?" 

"Where you go I go," the red dragon said simply. "Any idea where we look first?" 

"We might try getting our hands on one of his death magi," Ebontyne suggested grimly. "It'll be hard, but if anyone knows where he is..." 

The others nodded in agreement, then glanced around at the sound of grass rustling. 

Delon stood up, one hand rubbing his head. He looked around, blinking at the two dragons. Then his eyes fell on Rynn. 

Rynn grinned like an idiot, a feeling of amazing joy bubbling up inside her. "Delon!" she said, starting towards him. 

Her brother's mouth curved into an answering smile, but a voice that wasn't Delon's answered her. "It's good to be back." His hands moved fractionally and a white light spun around him. A second later, he had vanished. 

Stunned to silence, Rynn stared at the place he had just vacated. A sudden, terrible combination of emotions churned the pit of her stomach. Disbelief, betrayal, emptiness... 

Fear. 

They had just brought Navaros back into the world. 

__

End of Book One…


	16. Interlude

Interlude  __

Interlude 

So this is what has become of my realm. 

He paced the stone floor. It had been so long since he had been in the presence of reality, of things of substance and physical form. Too much time had passed while he'd been imprisoned in the rift, floating aimlessly without body. Housed in this new vessel, everything looked larger than he remembered. 

__

A suitable body, nevertheless. Not as imposing as my original form, but it will grow and endure for many years. The magi did well. 

He had worried that they wouldn't have been able to find a body strong enough to hold the forces of his and his former dragon's mixed soul-essences. It was a tremendous burden on any mortal frame, but upon seeing this one he'd known it had strength. Having the boy fall into the Rift had turned out to be useful. Instead of merely possessing the body, as he had done before that warrior woman interrupted with Runeblade, he had been able to displace the boy's soul and take up permanent residence in his body. The body belonged to him, now, and none other; its former occupant's soul adrift in the void. 

__

The woman... his sister? 

He frowned when remembering the confrontation scarce days ago. Not only had the girl wielded Heron's sword Runeblade, but she was Bonded to Heron's old dragon Arokh. Who was she? Related to the boy he had overcome, yes, but was she anyone else? 

__

No one I need fear. All who faced me have perished, save Arokh, and he survived only because his rider died before he did. This time, the dragon will die first. Perhaps I will experiment with the girl's soul shadow. She seemed to have her own share of power... 

He climbed three stone steps, ignoring the creatures on his left and right who bowed and grovelled at his passing. At the top, a single representative of the Death Magi genuflected. 

__

Ebontyne and Morghus. Traitors to the Order and now to the Union. They, too, will die. After that, who opposes me? Rimril, the last of the Guardian Magi and Archmagi, is dead. Two other Bonded live, but do not yet oppose me. Perhaps I should have them brought here. 

"My Lord," the death mage said in a ghostly voice, and gestured to the throne it hovered beside. 

He turned to face those gathered in the throneroom - his loyal lieutenants and followers - then sat on the large throne of carved black crystal. They cheered his return, sounds of mingled terror and triumph, but the noise was a distant thing in his ears. He let it wash over him, an absent-minded smile of acknowledgment on his face as he continued to think. 

One thing became a necessity. 

__

I will take the Runeblade. 

Once it was his, the pitiful group of individuals opposing him would have nothing with which to stop his plans, which hadn't changed. Not just annihilate the inhabitants of this planet, as many had thought he'd meant to do when Heron had interrupted his spell so many years ago, but absorb their souls as he had absorbed the soul of his dragon Kaeros. 

With the amassed soul-force of the entire world, perhaps then he'd have strength enough to reclaim his own soul from the fallen angel. 

After that, who knew or dared to dream what he'd be capable of? With that much power and the Runeblade at his command, Drakan would not be the only world open to him. 

These thoughts in mind, a real smile curved Navaros' lips and he laughed softly in anticipation. 

__

It is really_ good to be back._


	17. The Journey Begins Anew

_The Journey Begins Anew_

Rynn sat alone, living a nightmare she couldn't seem to wake from. Arokh, Morghus and Ebontyne conferred together a short distance away, discussing what should be done. Rynn didn't listen to what they were saying. What was the point? This couldn't be happening. It wasn't real, and any minute now she'd open her eyes and everything would be as it had been before... she'd be home... Delon would be in the room next to hers... Atimar would still be alive... her village would be peaceful and thriving... everything would be as it had been before... 

But the two dragons and the war mage were still there when she looked. Her brother, Atimar and home were nowhere in sight. The sun shone brightly over the grasses and puffs of white cloud drifted across the brilliant blue sky. How could anyone think something terrible would happen when Drakan looked so beautiful? 

"Rynn?" 

She looked over her shoulder at the great red dragon. Arokh looked concerned, but determined. 

"We must get moving," he said in his rumbling voice. When Rynn didn't answer, he added, "Morghus and Ebontyne think we should try and locate the other two Bonded and ask them to help us-" 

"Do what?" Rynn interrupted in a dull tone. "Help us do what, Arokh? I read the histories. Last time it ended when Heron thrust Runeblade through Navaros' heart. Navaros was thrown into the Rift, Heron was killed and so were the armies of both the Dark Union and the Order of the Flame." Her green eyes narrowed at the dragon, her voice becoming more intense. "I'm not going out that way. I have to save my brother." 

"You have to save Drakan," Arokh replied pointedly. "Navaros is almost certain to continue where he left off before Heron dealt with him; he'll try casting that spell again, and it will most likely kill every living thing in the whole world." 

"_Why_?" Rynn demanded. "How will that serve Navaros?" 

"Not even we know," Ebontyne said as she approached with Morghus. "His intentions as he explained them to us and the other Bonded who joined him turned out to be lies, as we later discovered. I think he only wanted us to delay the Order's armies so he could complete his spell." 

"Do you think he's gone back to Mount Tibor?" Morghus suggested. "That's where he was going to cast his magic last time. He seemed adamant about the exact positioning-" 

"I want to be able to stop him without killing myself and everyone around me!" Rynn shouted. The others were silent as she calmed down and took a few deep breaths. "How will the other two Bonded be able to help?" 

"One of them knows four Cycles of the Elements," Ebontyne said intently. "Fire, water, air and earth. Rynn, listen. Heron was only a warrior. If he had magical potential, he didn't know how to use it." Arokh nodded at this. "But if you can master each of those Cycles then figure out how to use the powers of the Rift, you might be able to stand a good chance against Navaros in this world as you did in the edges of the Void where the Death Magi last summoned him." 

"But time," Rynn said. "Do we have time to find those Bonded and for me to learn from them? Navaros could be casting his spell right now." 

"He wouldn't dare - not without arranging some protection for himself," Arokh said, shaking his head. "He had to go into a trance to cast his spell last time. That made him vulnerable, and explains why he didn't fight back when Heron and I attacked him." 

"He knows he still has enemies," Morghus said. "I doubt he'll make the same mistake as last time." 

Ebontyne agreed. "I think he'll make sure we're out of the way before casting his spell again." 

"You _think_ or you're _sure_?" Rynn asked. 

Ebontyne gave her a grim smile. "I'm sure. We'll know when he's started his casting, and it took him hours to prepare last time. No matter where he is, we'd be able to reach him before he completed it. Morghus is right. He won't make himself that vulnerable again. Not until he's sure he's in no danger." 

"He's not stupid," Morghus growled. "Just power-hungry." 

Rynn drew in a deep breath and nodded, pushing herself to her feet and trying to find her old determination. It wasn't over yet. "Any idea where to find these dragon riders?" 

Morghus and Ebontyne looked at each other wryly, then sighed. 

"They can find us," Arokh said. When the other three looked at him, he continued: "As I recall, there used to be a great horn that was winded to summon the Bonded to the Dragon Hall, the old meeting place for the Order. So powerful an instrument was it, and tuned so finely, that a dragon could hear its notes from almost anywhere." 

"That's an idea," Morghus said, looking hopeful. 

"What makes you think the two we're looking for will answer?" Rynn asked sceptically. 

Arokh glanced at Morghus who scratched his head in thought before saying, "Well, for one thing, the horn hasn't been winded since Navaros returned to the Order from the Eastern Wilds and killed all those who'd gathered in the Dragon Hall to welcome him back." 


	18. The Castle of Seasons

_The Castle of Seasons_

The flight was not a long one, but had been strangely uneventful. In her journeys with Arokh, Rynn had gotten used to being attacked by wartok siege engines and dragons of almost every description every step of the way. It was possible their enemies had noticed that there was another Bonded with them and had thus wisely forgone attacking them, but Rynn doubted it. She hadn't seen any creature sight them and flee. The skies were empty, and the grounds devoid of the Dark Union's minions. 

She got the nasty feeling that they were all setting up some kind of ambush together, and they'd end up flying into hordes of orcs and wartoks mounted upon skeletal dragons at any minute. 

"It makes sense for the orcs and wartoks to be absent," Arokh was saying as he glided with Morghus over a snowy mountain range. "Navaros would probably want his forces close to hand for whatever he's planning next. But the dragons... an area like this should be thick with ebon dragons." 

"Thank the elements for small favours," Morghus remarked with a toothy smile. 

"That reminds me," Ebontyne said, and asked Morghus to fly closer to Arokh. "Rynn, do you want to learn some earth magic now?" 

Rynn accepted, and Ebontyne began the lessons. Earth magic was difficult for many people, the war mage explained. It involved the manipulation of many different substances, and unless one could recognise in one's mind the intricate cellular structure of iron as opposed to something like copper, one would have a hard time. It would be no good if you conjured a weapon to defend yourself with only to find you'd fashioned it from sand instead of steel. Ebontyne didn't show Rynn how to make anything yet, saying that it would be easier when they were actually on the ground and in contact with the element they wanted to summon. She lectured Rynn on the different materials earth had to offer instead, explaining the benefits of one metal against another. 

"Can you only use earth to make things?" Rynn asked at one point. 

"No," Ebontyne had replied. "But that's what it was mostly used for, and thus a power highly prized for craftmasters. The destructive uses of earth magic involve things like earthquakes, landslides and stuff. Some people also used it to generate life and growth in the plant realm - making flora flourish." The war mage shrugged at that last example. 

There was a gigantic, circular valley smack in the middle of the mountains. Rynn thought it looked like a deep cup because its shape looked so precise and the inside slopes so smooth. The snow-covered ruins of a once-mighty fortress could be seen at the very bottom and exact middle of the valley, and it was toward this that the two dragons flew. 

"This was the Castle of Seasons, Rynn," Arokh said. He hovered low above a section of ruin - a snowed-in room surrounded by broken walls supporting no roof. "And this was the Dragon Hall." Rynn felt the dragon draw in a breath then release. Fire melted the snow on the floor and it rose in a hissing cloud of steam. When it cleared, a large pattern had been uncovered on the floor. A square, divided into four separate blocks of varying colour and design, with a black circle in the middle covering the intersection of the tiles. "Earth, fire, air, water," Arokh said, landing beside it in the half-melted snow. "Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter." 

"What's the circle for?" Rynn asked, leaning forward to get a better look at it. "Is there something traced on it?" 

"The circle represents the rift." Arokh shifted slightly as Rynn dismounted. "Though some used to say it could be a new moon. The symbol of the Order of the Flame is etched into it." 

Rynn knelt on the still-wet tiles and ran her hand across the almost obliterated engraving, feeling the roughness of weathered stone through the warm water, remembering the image from the cover of the book she had found in Atimar's house and from the amulet she'd taken from the goblins for Rimril. "Does the symbol have a specific meaning, Arokh?" she asked curiously. She traced the seven circles in the Order's symbol, which had been jewels in the amulet. 

Morghus flew over them and called down, "There are a few goblins camping in the ruins. We'll chase them off." 

"Looks like the mountains aren't deserted after all," Rynn said. For some reason, that made her feel better. 

Softly, Arokh said, "The Order had seven ideals, each of which was personified by the seven Bonded of the High Council." He indicated each jewel from top to bottom, left to right. "Hope, truth, trust, integrity, courage, honour, justice." 

"Sounded like fun," Rynn said dryly. 

"It was the golden age of Drakan," Arokh replied sadly, "before Navaros." He settled deeper into the snow, which proceeded to melt around him. "Humans and dragons had stopped warring, had joined together as more than just Bonded. Two races on the edge of a new age." 

"How am I supposed to continue that?" Rynn whispered, shivering in the cold. "Rimril... when he died... he said I was the only one left to keep the flame alive." 

The red dragon let out a deep breath. "We will worry about that when Navaros is dealt with. I'm inclined to agree with my brother and Ebontyne that this time, he should be destroyed." 


	19. Heart of Vengeance

_Heart of Vengeance_

Morghus and Ebontyne had easily dispatched the goblins lurking around the ruin, though the latter looked a little sour about the whole business when they returned to where Arokh and Rynn were waiting. 

"I'm just wondering when, if ever, I'll see you do a share of the fighting," she told Rynn curtly. "I didn't join you to teach you magic and watch your back. We're meant to be in this together." 

Rynn couldn't see why it was so important so long as the bad guys were killed and they themselves were not, but shrugged and promised to help next time. Ebontyne snorted and jumped down from Morghus, brushing snow from her black cloak. 

"Go sweep the ruins with fire," the war mage told her dragon. "See if you can uncover that horn." 

"Won't the fire damage it?" Rynn interjected quickly. 

"It's made from dragon bone," Morghus shrugged. "It should survive. Coming Arokh?" 

Rynn nodded to him, so Arokh took to the skies with his brother and the two swept out around the crumbling castle to start melting through snow drifts. Ebontyne removed her helmet and watched their first circuit critically, then looked at Rynn as thick sheets of steam prevented further spectating. Rynn blinked at the expression on the older woman's face. She thought they'd gone through enough and had developed a certain amount of camaraderie that warranted anything other than the cold gaze she was receiving now. It was like when they'd first met. Those glacial blue eyes... 

"What?" Rynn demanded, suddenly irritated. 

Ebontyne's dark brows lowered a fraction. "I didn't say anything." 

"You didn't have to. Why are you looking at me like that?" 

"Wondering if you honestly have what it takes when push comes to shove." 

"You don't think I can fight?" Rynn asked, astounded. "How do you think I got to Navaros and defeated him last time?" 

"Perhaps it was just one long spell of luck," said Ebontyne with a slight baring of her teeth. "But that's not what I mean. What I'm talking about is if we don't get in contact with the other two Bonded and you don't - or can't - become an Archmage, chances are you won't be able to save your brother's body. Will you be able to kill him?" 

Rynn froze for a second, then replied with, "What would be the point of trying if Runeblade _can't_ kill Navaros, but only exile him back to the void?" 

But Ebontyne knew that to be an evasion to her question. "It would be an excellent point it he were attempting to cast that spell of destruction over all of Drakan. Could you do it then?" 

There was no compassion, no sympathy in her voice. Rynn's jaw hardened and she glared. "I could, but I would not. Never." She made to turn away but Ebontyne grabbed her shoulder. 

"You can't possibly think that one boy, no matter how dear to you, is worth sparing for an entire world," the woman snarled. "Especially since he's no longer your brother!" 

"As if you care!" Rynn shouted. She tried to pull away but Ebontyne's grip was too strong. Furious, Rynn spat, "All you're concerned about is your own vengeance against Navaros." The gauntleted hand on her shoulder tightened and it was Ebontyne's turn to glare. Rynn drew a calming breath and said, "I will not give up on Delon." 

"He must be quite a brother," Ebontyne said after a while. She released Rynn and looked off into the steam. "You went through the past days and trials all for him." 

Relieved to see her companion pacified somewhat, Rynn said, "He is. And I'm sorry for what Navaros did to you. Really, I am. Just because I want to save Delon doesn't mean I will back away from facing Navaros. You have my word on that." 

Ebontyne's face remained impassive for a moment, then she said, "I will try to trust you on that, Rynn, but please bear with me. The last person I believed and trusted in, Morghus aside, took my soul and sold it to one of the Fallen." Her dark head lowered and she sighed. "Vengeance is all I have left." 

"You have Morghus." Rynn paused, wondering if the two would ever consider rejoining the Order of the Flame and if she should ask. Before she decided either way, Morghus' voice rang out above them. 

"We've found the horn." 


	20. The Horn of Drakaur

_The Horn of Drakaur_

Rynn and Ebontyne ran through curtains of hissing steam and large puddles of half-melted snow, following the sound of the dragon's wingbeats to the scorched rubble of what had once been a lofty tower. Large blocks of stone were strewn about in the slush and among them, barely visible, peeked a gleaming length of bone. No one needed to say anything. Humans and dragons set to moving the heavy debris as cautiously as possible, so as not to damage the horn. It had, however, already suffered quite a battering from the original destruction of its tower. Rynn would have expected something crafted from bone to break, not bend, but this was not the case with the dragon bone horn. 

Dented, bent in a couple of places, but whole, the horn was twice the length of Arokh's forearm, curved slightly, had a mouthpiece small enough for a human to use and a large mouth that fanned out. 

"This came from a dragon?" Rynn asked dubiously. "Which part?" 

"The dragon was called Drakaur," Arokh explained. "He was quite large in life, I was told. I _think_ it was one of the leg bones." He shrugged his large wings and flexed talons sore from the unaccustomed labour. "Let's stand it up and wind it, hm?" 

So they did. Rynn was doubtful that she could make any instrument that size produce a noise, and quickly discovered she was correct. Red-faced from all the blowing, she eventually stood aside for Ebontyne to have a try. The war mage's luck was better (or lungs stronger), and a deep, handsome tone trumpeted from the horn and shimmered in the air for a long time. Ebontyne, looking satisfied, stepped down from the horn. 

"Now we just have to wait for someone to answer." 

***

Two days passed without a sign of the other two Bonded: Nashiva and Star, Kang-shi and Glaive. Rynn passed the time experimenting with her magic, sparring with Ebontyne (who rather reluctantly admitted the young woman was quite skilled), hunting for food and spending quality time with her own dragon. She tried not to let the uneventful passing hours disturb her. After all, if Navaros had her brother, he was sure to be safe. Who would dare attack him? 

"Tell me how a bond works, exactly," Rynn asked Arokh on the second night. "I remember you saying when we first bonded that you didn't have a choice..." she trailed off. 

Arokh curled beside the large fire he'd lit and looked up at the two moons, thinking. At last, he replied, "Every dragon has a dragonstone - a soul crystal. The human a dragon joins with on his or first Bonding is a choice given solely to the dragon. Only the dragon can create what you would call the altar required for the ritual." His fiery eyes turned down to the snow. "It was up to the dragon to know what the human he or she wanted was like in here," he tapped his chest meaningfully, "because the dragon would be responsible to that human until one of them died." 

"A dragon has to do what its rider tells it to do?" Rynn asked. 

"Yes. We can argue, but we can not disobey. We can do nothing our rider would not want us to do. That's why it was so important that we chose the right humans, if any at all." Arokh smiled. "For those who were wise in their choices - which was most of us - it was nothing like the servitude you're probably imagining." He chuckled at Rynn's 'you-read-my-mind' expression, then looked sombre. "Heron was my friend. That's why I Bonded with him. I knew and trusted him. I would have done anything for him because I knew he'd never ask of me anything I would fight against." 

Rynn was silent for a moment. "When I Bonded with you..?" 

Arokh bowed his head slightly. "Any Bonding after the first time is different, as the altar is already in existence. What's more, sleeping as stone, the dragon has no say on who claims his or her dragonstone. All the human has to do-" 

"Is put the soul crystal in the altar," Rynn finished softly. She hesitated, then asked in a small voice, "Arokh... am I your friend?" 

The red dragon lowered his head to put his eyes on level with her own. "Yes, Rynn. Had I got to know you the way I got to know Heron, I would have asked you to Bond with me." 

"That's so sweet," Morghus said, his tone half-mocking as he landed on the other side of the fire and Ebontyne dismounted. "In fact, I think I'm going to be sick." 

Arokh winked at Rynn and she turned to face the black dragon and his rider. "How did you two get to be Bonded?" 

Morghus' eyes lit up with a kind of wicked humour but Ebontyne rounded on him and ordered, "Not one word." Then, with a warning glance at Rynn went to warm her hands at the fire. 

Morghus gave Rynn and Arokh a sidelong glance and murmured through a grin, "Ask me sometime when she's not around." Then, ignoring Ebontyne's glare, stretched out on the ground and yawned. "By the way," he said in an offhand tone, "we saw a pair of dragons heading this way from the west. They'll be here any time." 

A laugh escaped Rynn's lips and she jumped up. "Shouldn't we fly out to meet them?" 

"Not unless you're planning to fight them," Morghus said with a snort. 

"It's courtesy between dragons, Rynn," Arokh explained. "You let the visitors land to talk to you." 

She nodded impatiently and spent the next hour watching the sky in silence. 


	21. Gathering at the Dragon Hall

_Gathering at the Dragon Hall_

A pair of winged shadows passed over the western rim of the valley. Rynn stood up again, straining her eyes to get a good look at them in the moonlight. One appeared to be a coppery-brown colour with paler patterns of scales dappling its flanks. This dragon had long horns streaking back from both brow and jawline. The second dragon was obviously gold. Its scales glittered brightly in the frosty night and its underwings shimmered like rich silks. The two dragons descended towards the large campfire and landed in the snow, their riders staying mounted. The brown dragon's rider, a fair-skinned man with blond hair, was wearing silvery chain mail, leather trousers and boots. He had no cloak, but a magnificent bow made of some unknown material was slung across his shoulders. The gold dragon's rider was also a man, and his skin was very dark beneath the drawn up hood of his blood-red cloak. Rynn couldn't see what else he was wearing, but he carried his weapon in full view - a wooden staff with a wickedly shaped blade on one end. A glaive. 

Before anyone could offer greetings, the man with the bow said, "What have you done, Ebontyne, to earn Navaros' hatred so soon after his return?" 

"You've seen him already, then?" Ebontyne replied, apparently unsurprised by the question. 

"He summoned us as soon as he returned to his fortress in Azaran. He wants both Morghus and Arokh-" here he shot an appraising look at the red dragon, "-killed." 

The casual way he said this sent a chill down Rynn's spine. 

"That sounds like him," Ebontyne said, her voice still calm. "He's probably upset because I've joined up with Rynn and Arokh here. They're going to help me kill him." 

"Interesting," the other rider, the one with the glaive, said in a very deep voice. "I got the impression that you returned him to Drakan in the first place." 

"Accidentally. The body he has now belongs to Rynn's brother. We were trying to save him from the void and it seems Navaros possessed him just before we brought him back." 

"Ah. And you called us because..?" 

"We need your help to destroy him and save the boy." 

"Well, here's the thing," the first rider explained. "Navaros has promised us our Jewels of Eternity for serving him your dragons' heads on dinner plates. How do we gain by helping you?" 

Ebontyne nodded and responded with, "You get revenge on him for his centuries of deception and the selling of your souls. The jewels no longer exist, Star. Navaros gave them all to the Fallen Angel in exchange for the Words of Power." 

"How can you claim to know this?" 

"We found the Fallen Angel in the Eastern Wilds," Ebontyne said, her face going hard at the memory. "He told us." 

The male riders were silent for a few seconds, looking at each other questioningly. Then the blond one spoke again. "Then I will believe you, Ebontyne. Your word has more value to me than Navaros'." The other murmured his agreement and both dismounted. 

Rynn breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged a smile with Arokh. She was obviously going to have to revise her opinions of Dark Unionists. As Ebontyne had said, they weren't all as evil as Navaros. 

Ebontyne introduced her and Arokh to the two men, then identified the blond man as Star and the dark man as Glaive. The brown dragon was Nashiva and the gold was Kang-shi. Arokh remembered each of them, and they him, but the humans seemed more interested in Rynn. 

"So this is the youngling that defeated Navaros this second time," Star said, smiling down at her, and instead of feeling flattered at the attention (as he was, she admitted privately, quite devastatingly handsome), Rynn felt that chill again. The smile didn't reach his eyes, which were as blue and cold as Ebontyne's. "And Bonded to Arokh?" 

"She is," Arokh affirmed before turning to talk with the dragons. 

"She looks a bit small to have a chance against anything bigger than an orc," Star went on bluntly, but still smiling. 

"Who are you calling small, Star?" Glaive grunted. The dark-skinned rider was a full two feet taller than Star, who didn't actually stand much higher than Rynn. He threw back his hood to reveal deep brown eyes and a bald head, then turned to greet Ebontyne. "Akailu. It's good to see you again, my friend." 

Ebontyne's smile was actually warm as she gripped the arm he extended at the wrist. "And you, Darben. What's occupied you since we parted?" 

Star distracted Rynn's attention from their conversation by asking her to tell him about herself. This gave her pause, and she looked at him with undisguised scepticism. 

"Do you usually come straight out and say what you mean?" she queried. 

"Saves time," he answered, shrugging. "I'm impatient and impulsive. Dancing around the issue is tiresome and I'm not the most subtle of people, anyway, so why bother?" 

"I see," Rynn murmured, unsure of what else to say. 

Smiling again, he said, "Well, I'll tell you about myself, then. If we're all going to be working together, it might be easier for you to understand where we're coming from. No doubt Ebontyne has spoken about herself?" 

"A bit." 

Star chuckled. "A bit. Sounds like her. Glaive's the same; silent-type. Usually have to wrench his arm to get him to have a conversation with you." He shrugged and folded his arms, glancing up at the sky. "Where to begin..." Another shrug and he looked at Rynn directly, no longer smiling. "I was born in a city that no longer exists and hasn't for longer than I care to remember. I had only three interests in my childhood: archery, hunting, and watching the dragons fly over the mountains. At sixteen, I came here-" he gestured around, "-to the Castle of Seasons. I became an apprentice, hoping to join the Order of the Flame and become a dragon rider. 

"During my first years here, I got to know Nashiva." Here he nodded in the direction of the copper-brown dragon. "When I reached twenty years of age, she asked me if I would be willing to Bond with her." He smiled. "It was all I could do to say 'Yes,' without shouting my assent as loudly as I could. So it was done, and we became one of the Bonded and members of the Order. 

"There were political debates within the Order at that time, and I hadn't paid them much heed as an apprentice. With my new status came the demand that I took a side, though. I was young, and didn't realise that one should strive to learn all the facts before making a decision. As I said before, I'm impulsive. Some things never change. I didn't like the idea of the Order of the Flame being not protectors of Drakan, but enforcers. I was told that the peace between the cities and villages was not happily accepted by the people because of the overhanging threat of the Bonded destroying those who resisted. I was encouraged to believe that the Order of the Flame took away the freedom of the people to choose. 

"Before long, I was attending meetings of the steadily growing Dark Union. Navaros was already in control at this time, so as a symbol of my loyalty I had to use an artefact called a Jewel of Eternity. As Ebontyne probably told you, they grant the user virtual immortality and agelessness so long as the jewel remains intact. 

"Nashiva wasn't happy with my decision to join the Dark Union, but I..." Star shook his head, "...I was too sure of myself to listen to her, and she had to abide by my wishes..." 


	22. Flashback

_Flashback_

_"You joined the Dark Union?" Nashiva whispered, her pale gold eyes widening in disbelief. "It is an organisation founded on over-blown suspicions and the ambitions to seize power!" _

Star's smile faded. He'd been certain the dragon would have praised him for his decision, for choosing the right side to fight for. "Why do you say that?" 

"That's how it seems to me, from what you've told me of it. I thought you'd have figured it out for yourself by now, but-" 

"Be silent!" Star ordered, startling both himself and Nashiva, who stared at him in shock. It was the first time he'd commanded anything of her, least of all in that tone of voice - one that brooked no argument. He took a deep breath then said, "I've always listened to your advice, because I know it's good, but how can you argue against this? The Order of the Flame are enforcers of this supposed peace-" 

"Stop it!" Nashiva snarled, her eyes flashing with real anger. "I cannot believe I'm hearing you preach that load of tripe!" 

"I happen to believe that 'load of tripe'," Star said, trying to smile for her benefit. She was his friend, after all. He wanted her to side with him on this. To trust in him, as he'd so often trusted in her. "Navaros is-" 

"Navaros?" Her expression went blank. "The Bonded of Kaeros? What has he_ to do with this?" _

Star lowered his voice, even though no one was anywhere nearby. "He's the leader of the Dark Union." 

"But he used to be the Champion in the High Council! He represented the Honour of the Order for two seasons running!" 

"That's why I believe him," Star said eagerly. "Why would anyone who had been on the High Council, why would a former Champion_, do this if he didn't believe in it? A lot of other high-ranking Bonded have sided with him, as well. Don't you see? They're going to use the Dark Union to liberate Drakan!" _

"Why is it called the Dark Union, Star?" Nashiva asked suddenly. Her draconic voice had lowered, and her eyes almost seemed to burn with intensity. "Can you tell me?" 

"That? Navaros said it's only a temporary name while we meet in secret, in the shadows. I've made my vows of loyalty with this thing called a Jewel of Eternity. This is great - let me tell you what it does-" 

"What about your vow of loyalty to me and the Order?" Nashiva whispered, a look of hopeless betrayal in her eyes and voice now. "Do the words mean nothing to you, my friend? 'By Fire and by Blood I join with thee in the Order of the Flame!'" 

"The... Dark Union will become a new Order of the Flame," Star said, with some difficulty. Nashiva gazed at him like he was a stranger to her. "They will make changes to the Order's code... nothing more. Nashiva, I have to attend a training session. Don't tell anyone what we've spoken of... please?" She didn't answer... didn't even look at him when he eventually turned and walked off in the direction of the archery range. 

But before he was quite out of range, he thought he heard her murmur, "I have no choice." 

***

"When Navaros and Kaeros returned after their ten year absence," Star said, "the Horn of Drakaur was sounded, summoning all Bonded to the Castle of Seasons. He contacted someone in the Dark Union first, though, and we were ordered away from the castle with our dragons. Not all of the Bonded, humans and dragons alike, could fit into the Hall... but all that did died." 

"I know the story," Rynn said softly. "What did you do?" 

"When we heard of the slaughter, I wanted out. Nashiva urged me to act on that thought, but I couldn't. I think I was afraid that Navaros would kill me. He could have, since he had my life tied to a jewel." He sighed. "Or so I thought at the time. I told Nashiva about the Jewels and she stopped begging me to return to the Order. She didn't want to become frozen stone... but looking back, we both wish we'd faced death rather than fight for an evil cause. 

"We fought for him. And when he was defeated by Heron and Arokh, we spent the next century hiding from the last members of the Order of the Flame. Traitors, in a world we'd helped bring to the brink of obliteration." 

But now you know you're free," Rynn said. "Navaros doesn't have your jewel." He nodded, and she continued with, "Forgive me, but I thought... I was under the impression that all Dark Unionists believed completely in what they were doing." 

Star shook his head and replied in an adamant voice, "Had I known the whole agenda, as few did, I would never have joined. Had I known Navaros' true plans, I would have tried to kill him myself." He sighed, smiling a little. "So, Rynn. What's your life story?" 


	23. Dragons Before Dawn

_Dragons Before Dawn_

They spent the rest of the night at the ruins of the castle, but Glaive cautioned Rynn and Ebontyne that Navaros knew the Horn of Drakaur had been sounded, and thus he'd know where they currently were. It would be wise to relocate as quickly as possible. 

It turned out they should have moved earlier than that, as they were attacked just before dawn. Through the morning fall of snow came no less than ten ebon dragons, their high-pitched screams ripping over the ruins and icy breath blasting large chunks of ice into the already frozen ground. 

"Fly!" Rynn shouted to Arokh as she grabbed magic arrows from her quiver and nocked one to her bowstring. "We'll attack them from the ground!" 

Arokh nodded and leaped into the sky, roaring his defiance at the attackers. Morghus, Nashiva and Kang-shi followed his lead and split up, drawing the fire of the ebon dragons in different directions. 

"Spread out," Star shouted, drawing his own bow. "If we stand together, one lucky breath of ice will take us all out at the same time!" He ran through the snow for a broken section of wall and climbed atop it, already looking for a likely target through the swirling sleet. 

The other humans divided and Rynn, now by the scanty cover of half a portcullis, aimed up at one of the black dragons, made sure it had the pointed, upturned ears of its breed and wasn't Morghus, then fired, instantly drawing another arrow and pulling back her bowstring for another shot then loosing again. The two glittering shafts sliced upwards through the snow leaving a trail of blue and gold light it their wake and a faint _shing_ sound. The ebon dragon, too concerned with trying to freeze Nashiva, barely saw them coming. It swerved, plunging away, but the magic arrows followed its evasion and streaked after it. It was faster, and the two arrows' magic wore off before they could strike. They flew on in a slight downward curve toward the ground. 

The ebon dragon, however, and another whom Ebontyne had shot at and also missed, headed for the humans on the ground with screams of rage. 

Rynn scrambled away to look for a safer place to shoot and almost got squashed by the half-roasted carcass of an ebon dragon that had been falling from the sky. She crouched near it and fired at the dragon tearing towards her. It ducked its head and the arrow flew over it. It opened its jaws, spread its foreclaws wide to rip her head off, breathed ice. Rynn fled, jumping to one side and vaulting over a segment of wall half her height. She crouched behind it and felt it wobble as ice struck it and sent the topmost bricks flying. 

"Take this!" Rynn shouted, casting her bow aside and sending a magical stream of flames into the winged reptile's face. 

It shrieked in pain and retaliated with another breath of ice, which struck Rynn in the chest and threw her to the ground, a thick mass of frozen water covering her middle and pinioning her. Dazed and winded, Rynn choked to catch her breath and could only watch as the ebon dragon shook its burnt head wildly, hovering almost directly above her and so close that the wind from its wings brushed her cheeks. 

"Arokh," Rynn croaked, and a second later the red dragon dropped from above and thrust the ebon aside, his fore- and hindclaws digging into its back and shoulders, his sharp teeth closing around its neck just below the head. The ebon was slammed to the ground under Arokh's weight and both dragons thrashed in the snow as they fought to the ebon's inevitable death. 

Rynn tried to summon Fire, failed, angrily tried again and called up a blaze strong enough to melt through the ice trapping her. She got up, shivering uncontrollably, and retrieved her bow as Arokh tore himself free from the ebon dragon's limp left wing. "Thanks," she said. 

He glanced up at the sound of her voice then replied, "Rynn, get out of the way!" 

Rynn threw herself into the snow again as her Bonded breathed fire over her head. She rolled over to see another ebon descending on her, one wing trailing streamers of Arokh's flame. With hardly a thought, she added her own fireballs to the red dragon's barrage and directed them at the ebon's chest. It shrieked at the onslaught and faltered, then flew head-first into the ground and lay still. 

"More are coming!" Kang-shi trumpeted from above. She wheeled over the ruins, looking for Glaive and again shouted, "More dragons come from the west!" 

"Let's get out of here," Arokh roared, and Rynn hastened to climb astride his back. "Are you unwounded, Rynn?" 

"I'm fine," she replied. "A few bruises is all. Yourself?" 

"The same." He sounded almost fiercely proud, as though happy to be in the air and fighting again. Beating his wings, he lifted off and waited for the other Bonded to rise. 

Then several winged shapes swept in from the north. 

"The north!" Arokh shouted urgently. "They come from the north as well!" 

Morghus, Nashiva and Kang-shi rose with their riders and Arokh flew over to them at Rynn's directions. 

"By the time we kill them the ones from the west will be here," Ebontyne shouted over the noise of the dragons' wings. 

"Split up and draw them different ways?" Star suggested. 

"I think that's the best," Rynn agreed, eyeing the approaching foes carefully. "Meet at the Belltower in the Islands. Can everyone get there?" 

They nodded and immediately veered off. 

"We're going west," Arokh said to Rynn. "Hang on!" And he flew straight for the cloud of dragons coming their way from that direction... 


	24. Mountain Chase

_Mountain Chase_

"How are you planning to go about this?" Rynn asked in a slightly hoarse voice, for Arokh was speeding directly for the flight of dragons coming in from the west with no sign that he would slow or veer off. They were getting close enough for the young warrior to count. 

"Trust me," her Bonded roared, a hint of anticipation in his voice. "Just hold on. _Tight_." 

Rynn didn't need to be told twice. She flattened herself to Arokh's broad neck and gripped it tight, feeling his muscles tense as he flew even faster. Snow flashed past them in a silver blur, stinging Rynn's face and vanishing in puffs of steam where it hit Arokh's scales. 

The flight of dragons got closer... 

Arokh thrust his head forward and let loose a massive ball of flickering lightning, which streaked ahead into the middle of the flight and exploded with a deafening peal of thunder. Forks of white electricity flashed in every direction and the dragons shrieked in surprise, pain and fury, scattering. 

Arokh tucked his wings close to his body and flew straight through the confusion. 

He was several wingbeats away before the ebon dragons recovered and, as one, started to give chase. 

"_Now_ what?" Rynn shouted, looking over her shoulder at the angry beasts and wincing as an icy blast exhaled by one of them barely missed Arokh's left flank. 

"Our aim _was_ to lead them away, remember?" Arokh replied through gritted fangs, still flying hard. "Now we keep going until we lose them in the mountains." 

"Do you think you can outfly them?" 

"We'll find out, won't we?" 

Swiftly, Rynn sat up and spun herself around so she was looking back over Arokh's tail. Unshouldering her bow and gripping her Bonded firmly with her legs to keep her balance, she started firing arrows. It was difficult to aim while flying and with the wind interfering, but she managed to fell one dragon and injure two more badly enough that they dropped behind... still, there were too many left over. Arms aching, she pulled the bowsting back again and again. Her accuracy increased, but the hope that sparked in her quickly went out when she realised it was because the ebon dragons were closer. 

They were gaining. 

Arokh didn't need to be told. "_Hang on!_" he roared, and, when Rynn had turned to face forward again, flew straight for the ground. 

The crags reeled below them, their stoney formations standing out sharply against the white snow. Arokh swooped around a bulky spire and dropped into a ravine almost too narrow for his great wingspan. Blasts of ice smashed into the rocks on either side of them and he descended even further, veering to his right when the ravine curved around then shooting under a stalactited arch... 

...slamming right into an ebon dragon hovering on the other side. 

Arokh lashed out with tooth and talon, snarling as the other dragon's claws scored his chest. His own hindclaws tore at the ebon's stomach and flames flew from his jaws into its face. 

"Another one's coming!" Rynn yelled, looking up as a shadow fell over them. 

Not one... five. 

With a battle-shriek, Arokh wrenched himself away and sped further into the icy crags, sent a blast of searing magma over his shoulder as a passing shot. He kept low to the ground, taking many turns in the maze-like ravines and even doubling back a couple of times, but there were too many to hide from. If a group was evaded, a lone scout would see them and sound the alarm to alert the others. 

"Damn them," Arokh snarled. "I can't keep this speed up much longer, Rynn." He swerved to avoid more ice blasts and ducked down another ravine... then gasped. "Look!" 

At the end of this chasm was one of the circular portals the orcs and wartoks used to seal off passages through the mountains... and it was open. 

"If there's a mechanism on the other side we'll be able to close it," Rynn said almost breathlessly. "As soon as we're through drop me off then try to fire back through it to keep the ebons away." 

Arokh nodded and dropped lower, calculating his angle carefully. The last thing they needed was to crash. Ice struck the cliff the portal was set into. Rynn felt a chill as one flew over her head. Arokh was taking a great risk flying straight... he presented a much easier target. 

The wide circle of the portal drew nearer and Arokh glided smoothly through, quickly looking around to make sure no enemies were on this side and then to find a landing place. Rynn slipped from his back almost before the red dragon touched the ground and was immediately running to the large lever she'd spied near an apparently abandonned outpost. Arokh lifted up again and spun to face the portal, magma shooting from his maw. 

Rynn reached the lever and pulled. 

"It's stuck!" she yelled, and, hearing the hysteria in her voice, quickly calmed herself to think. It was a very big metal lever, probably meant to be used by a wartok, and could be stiff because of the snow. Fire flowed from her hands and melted the ice around the gears, charring the wood casing. With all her strength, she wrapped arms and legs around the now-hot metal and let her weight drag the lever down. 

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Arokh roared, throwing himself aside as two ebons tried to fly through the portal at the same time. 

The lever clicked. 

With a loud humming sound, a green field sprang up to seal off the circular portal. Two heads and necks, suddenly separated from winged bodies, landed heavily in the blood-spotted snow. 

Arokh landed near Rynn and gasped for breath. "Good work." 

Rynn struggled to calm her own racing heart and could only say, "You too." 

Then they passed out. 


	25. Islands

_Islands_

Rynn returned to consciousness with a loud buzzing sound in her ears. She groaned, not even bothering to try and roll over. She felt so warm... all her limbs numb and drowsey... just wanted to rest a little longer... 

There was the loud sound of Arokh breathing fire, some hissing and more of that irritating buzzing. 

Rynn tried to ignore it and fall back into that pleasant dark unconsciousness. 

"No you don't," Arokh rumbled, and a foreclaw wrapped around her midsection to lift her up. She almost gasped with the heat of it, even through her armour, and dimly realised it felt so because she'd been lying in the chill snow. She might not have woken up again had Arokh not moved her. 

"Thanks," she managed, lips numb and sore. She settled on his back and shivered convulsively. Removing her gloves, she touched her face and flinched at the coldness of it. 

"Lie close to my scales. They should warm you up," Arokh instructed, and she was only too happy to comply. The red dragon looked at the portal. "Looks like the ebon dragons gave up. I hope they don't find another way through." 

"Navaros sent them?" Rynn suggested, pressing her forehead to his muscled shoulder. 

"One would assume. Either they were making sure Star, Nashiva, Glaive and Kang-shi killed us, or they were making sure _all_ of us were killed. I tend to think the latter more probable." He started walking down the snow-filled ravine, looking around. "I think I recognise where we are. The Islands aren't too far." 

Rynn made the effort to wrap her arms around his neck, and stayed lying down. "Let's go," she mumbled. 

Arokh's wings swept down and they were aloft. After a minute or so of flying, Rynn felt warm and awake enough to sit up and take notice of their passage. They flew through the large valley where Arokh had battled and defeated the ice-dragon Werokh, then through an open portal to the sun-touched Islands. 

"No snow," Rynn sighed. "Thank goodness." 

Tilting his flight slightly, Arokh glided over the glittering sea and small islets, aiming for the northern coast and the bay that would lead to the Belltower. Rynn found herself looking more to the west. Something was itching at her mind. 

"Arokh," she said after a little while. "Remember Alwarren?" 

"Of course." 

She frowned slightly, then nodded to herself. "I think I have an idea of how to stop Navaros from casting that spell. Or at least, of trapping him." 

She felt his startlement rip through his body. "The Great Spell of Protection?" he exclaimed. "You can't be serious!" 

"Why not?" 

"For one thing, you don't know _how_." 

"Do you?" she asked. 

"Secondly," he went on, ignoring her query, "casting it while you're so inexperienced with magic will put you at deadly risk!" 

"Arokh," she said firmly, "do you know how to cast the Great Spell of Protection?" 

"Yes," he admitted reluctantly. "I can't cast it, though. No dragon can." 

"Would it stop Navaros?" 

"If it works, that spell will trap _anything_. Nothing, physical or otherwise, can pass through the field it generates." 

Rynn allowed herself a grim smile of satisfaction and fell silent. Arokh said nothing more until they reached the Belltower, where the other three Bonded were waiting. 

"What kept you?" Morghus asked. 

"Some fifty or so ebon dragons," Arokh replied with a shrug. "Took a while to shake them off." 

"So what's the plan?" Star asked. 

"Ebontyne said that one of you knew the magicks of Fire, Water, Earth and Air," Rynn said. 

"That would be me," Glaive said, coming to stand by Kang-shi's shoulder. 

"Rimril said that I have the potential to be an Archmage. If you teach me the four cycles of elemental magic, then I can explore the powers of the Rift. I can hopefully use that magic to save my brother." 

"And Navaros?" 

"When Delon is safe, then we find a way to destroy Navaros for good." 

Glaive raised a dark brow at Star, then looked at Rynn again. "And how do we plan to evade his forces until then? Unless you've forgotten, there's a hive of succubi in these islands and not a few dragons." 

"Then I guess you teach me quickly." 

Glaive snorted. 

"This won't work," Kang-shi growled. 

"Do you have a better idea?" Ebontyne asked coolly. 

"Yes," Kang-shi replied, her tone equally cold. "The six of us make a frontal assault on Navaros' fortress and grind him to the dirt. Archmage and stolen dragon-soul he may be, but he is far from being immortal or invincible." 

"You can't kill him without Runeblade, and you won't get my help unless I get yours," Rynn stated. 

Kang-shi swivelled her golden head to face Rynn and bared her fangs. "We just need Runeblade. We don't need _you_. Why are we wasting all this time to save one human male?" 

Glaive laid a mailed hand on her shoulder and the dragon subsided. "The boy is kin to her, Kang-shi." He paused, as though considering, then inclined his head to Rynn. "You have my help." 

"Ours as well," Star said, and Nashiva nodded. 

Rynn smiled in relief and looked at Glaive. "Let's get started, then." 


	26. The Fourth Cycle

_The Fourth Cycle_

Air, Rynn discovered, was the most difficult to manipulate of the four elemental magicks. It required unwavering concentration, clear thought and steady breathing. Glaive said that this made it a magic rarely used during battles, as very, very few people could remain calm and collected in such a situation. When Rynn asked how Air could be used offensively, Glaive answered that a skilled mage could suck the air from an enemy's lungs, suffocating them, or cause stones to rise and hurl themselves at targets, or manipulate air currents so that a loosed arrow would fly with perfect accuracy. Air could also be fashioned into invisible armour no weapon could pierce if the mage could but stand unflinching and confident under any onslaught. 

"All right, Ebontyne taught you the other three Cycles," Glaive said, "so let's see how good you are with them. Conjur me some Fire." 

Eager to display her skill, Rynn summoned a large ball of golden flames (about the size of her head) between her hands. 

"Good. Let's see if you can make it smaller. Say, the size of a candle's flame." 

Rynn tried to reduce the size of her fireball, remembering that emotions controlled this aspect. She forced herself to think of a mildly funny joke she'd heard once and the flame immediately dwindled to a spark. She thought of a funnier joke, and the spark became a dancing flame. Glaive nodded his approval and Rynn quickly doused her Fire before her pride could make it flare up. 

"Now, Earth." 

Once Rynn had made grass grow, rocks split, whirlpools form, water freeze, then levitated herself on a pillow of Air, Glaive moved her on to combining the elements. He taught her how to create a bubble of air underwater which she could use to breathe while swimming. He showed her how to melt rocks to lava, and how she could walk across it unharmed. He taught her the basics of healing, then reversed the method and displayed how easily she could kill. 

At the end of the day, although not yet adept in the four Cycles of magic, Rynn was competent. 

"We can keep training as long as you wish," Glaive said, "but you don't need to know everything about these four elements to get on to the fifth. You just need to know how they work, which you now do." 

"Can you teach me anything about Rift magic?" Rynn asked. 

"I never learned it," Glaive admitted. "I never thought I'd need it, and didn't see myself as an Archmage. In short, Rynn, I have no idea how to manipulate ether. You're going to have to figure that one out on your own." 

"But that could take forever!" 

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. The first Archmagi had no one to teach _them_." 

The sun had sunk behind the high mountains to the west and the ever-lengthening shadows threw the Belltower and its surrounding grounds into cool darkness. Rynn walked up the grassy slope from the bay to the tower, glancing up once as a flock of twittering birds flew across the sapphire blue sky, and sat down with her back to one of the stone walls. 

"You've had more than enough mental exercise for one day," Ebontyne said from the huge gateway of the tower. The black-armoured woman stepped outside, eyes intent on the cloth she was running up the blade of her midnight blade. "Do much more thinking and your head might explode. Figuratively speaking." 

"Oh... good." Rynn closed her eyes with a sigh and rubbed her temples. "For a moment I thought you were serious. There's a lot about all this magic stuff I don't understand." 

"If exploding heads was a factor, Navaros would have detonated his ages ago." Ebontyne leaned back against the wall. "What about a spot of sword-fighting?" 

Rynn squinted at her, then at the sword. "What does that thing do, anyway?" 

"A shadowshiv? Another weapon from the Eastern Wilds. There's a canyon over there were darkness is like flesh. Real, touchable, as capable of killing things as you or I are. I cut a piece of the shadows from that place and had it shaped into this form." 

"But what does it do?" 

"Among other things, this. Hold still." Ebontyne called forth a small gout of Fire and lifted her sword in front of it so that its shadow fell across Rynn's face. 

And in that shadow of darkness itself, Rynn suddenly felt a deep fear. She felt herself backing away, as though she was seeking to bury herself in the side of the tower to escape, but she couldn't look away. It would be idiocy to take her eyes away from what she feared most in all the world... 

_"Rynnnnnnn!" Delon shrieked as he plummetted into the depths of the Void..._

_"It's good to be back..."_

"NO!" Rynn shouted, and blindly threw herself forward. Abruptly, she found herself sprawled face-down on the grassy ground, heart pounding. Ebontyne stood nearby, watching Rynn a little too avidly. 

"Everyone's afraid of the dark," the woman warrior said softly. 


	27. Alwarren

_Alwarren_

Rynn was too shaken to sleep. When the moons had risen and the starlight shone on the rippling water, she left her blankets in the Belltower and went outside. The cold night wind hit her immediately and she shivered as she belted Runeblade over her shoulder. 

"The succubi are abroad tonight," a dragon's voice rumbled beside the gate, and Rynn jumped. It was Kang-shi. The female dragon's golden scales glittered silver in the moons' light and her emerald eyes regarded Rynn gravely. "I heard them flying." 

"Arokh and I can handle a few succubi." 

"So I've heard. Where are you going?" 

"Alwarren." Rynn looked around for Arokh. 

"He's up there," Kang-shi said, lifting her great head to look up at a mountain, "sleeping. I could take you, if you want." 

"No offence but, after you threatened me the other day, I don't entirely trust you." 

Kang-shi smiled, baring a good number of pointed teeth. "Entirely understandable. If I were you, I wouldn't trust me either." When Rynn stared at her, she continued, "You have an odd assortment of companions, Rynn. Arokh, last dragon of the Order of the Flame. Morghus and Ebontyne, who believed Navaros would free Drakan from the Order's 'enforced peace'. Star, who believed the same and now doesn't. Nashiva, who would have remained in the Order had Star not joined the Dark Union. Then you have Glaive and me." 

Rynn let the silence draw out before asking, "And what of you two?" 

Again the dragon smiled, and Rynn recognised a dangerous predator when she saw one. One without morals or fear. "We believed in ruling Drakan." 

"'Believed'? So you don't any more?" Rynn was glad her voice was holding steady. 

"My dear humanling," Kang-shi said, rising to her feet and craning her neck forward so that her eyes were level with Rynn's, "_that_ would be telling." Then she backed up a few paces and leaped into the air. Rynn saw her shadow merge with the greater darkness of a mountain, and a moment later another shadow was descending towards her. 

"Good evening," Arokh murmured, landing in front of her and stretching his wings. "Or is it morning? Kang-shi said you were looking for me." 

"I don't trust her," Rynn muttered. 

"Yes, she said that too," Arokh said and lowered one wing for Rynn to mount. When she was seated, he took to the skies and headed for Alwarren. "What do you want to know about her?" 

"Do _you_ trust her?" 

"Trust is earned, Rynn, rarely given. No, I don't trust her yet. I don't fully trust the others either, though." 

Remembering the look Ebontyne had given her after showing what the shadowshiv could do, Rynn had to agree. "I don't like it. I feel like I always have to be watching my back." 

"I wouldn't worry about them at the moment. To me at least, they seem intent on defeating Navaros. We're allies for the time being, and they need our help." He fell silent as the sound of distant laughter reached their ears. "Succubi," he whispered. "Let's keep quiet until we reach Alwarren." 

***

The dead city was as they had left it. The underground river burbled quietly as Arokh coasted over it, and the subterranean plants bathed the caves in a phosphorescent glow. The dragon landed near the entrance to the city and walked in, keeping a sharp lookout for any flame knights or goblins they might have missed on their last visit. A short time later, they reached a crest set into the floor in imitation of the symbol of the Order of the Flame. A Bonded named Tuirii had used or created this crest to cast the Great Spell of Protection. 

"How does the spell work, Arokh?" Rynn asked. She dismounted and walked over to the crest, its magic dead since she'd broken the spell to reach the bellhammer. 

Arokh let out a deep sigh and sank to his haunches. "Rynn, you must be an Archmage of no small power-" 

"I'm working on that. How do you cast the spell?" 

Seeing she wouldn't be swayed, he bowed his head slightly. "First you must draw the symbol of the Order where you intend to do the casting. The closer it is to where you want the barrier, the less difficult it will be to complete the spell. 

"Second, you must stand in the middle of the crest and summon the powers of all four elemental magicks, all four Cycles at the same time, and hold that force within you while speaking the spell's incantation." 

Arokh closed his eyes and spoke slowly, as though reciting words long ago bound to memory. "'This spell of my casting, I cast for the hope of the future.   
"'This power I summon is in the face of true danger,   
"'A decision founded on my own integrity,   
"'Until justice can be done and the spell broken.   
"'I vow that I have the courage to face death,   
"'And that I honour life.   
"'In me, my words and my strength, my companions trust.'" 

The cavern echoed with his words and Rynn repeated them in her mind, trying to memorise them. 

"If you speak that incantation truthfully and do not doubt, the prisms will form in the crest and you must then summon the powers of the Rift to create the barrier," Arokh said. "As far as I know, you need only reach out with your mind and place the barrier, shaping and sizing it as you would a lump of clay. When you are done, say:   
"'By Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Ether, I put this place under my protection.' 

"As soon as the prisms are removed from the crest, the barrier will form and nothing will be able to pass through it." 

"That's it?" Rynn asked. "I thought it was more dangerous than that." 

"Ah," said Arokh, eyes opening and glinting at her. "Now we go into consequences. If your concentration wavers and you lose control of the elemental magicks you've summoned, they will sweep out around you, uncontrollable, and destroy anything they touch. Just look at Alwarren." 

"Tuirii levelled the entire _city_?" Rynn asked, aghast. "I thought she completed the spell!" 

"Oh, she did. She just had some trouble doing it. In trying to protect this place, she virtually razed it to the ground, buried it beneath the earth..." He shook his head. "You get the picture?" 

Rynn found herself swallowing hard. "What else can go wrong?" 

"That's it, but it's enough. Everything else that happens to you is meant to happen. When the Great Spell of Protection is complete and the barrier in place, you will feel what hits that field as though it has hit you. And so will I." 

"Would Tuirii have felt pain... as a soul shadow?" 

"I don't know." Arokh stopped talking and looked at his Bonded, evidently waiting to see if she still wanted to cast the spell. 

Rynn, not entirely sure herself, decided not to enlighten him either way. "Let's get back to the Belltower." She mounted, and Arokh flew her up to the cave entrance that led back out into the fresh air of the islands. "Thanks... for telling me about the spell." 

"You're welcome." 

Arokh spread his wings and soared into the open skies once more, the light of the moons casting the dragon's fleet shadow over the waters. 


	28. Of Fishes and Fragrances

_Of Fishes and Fragrances_

"There is a certain art to it," Morghus was telling Arokh the following morning. The black dragon returned his attention to the bay and squinted his flaming eyes. "You have to calculate the depth just so." 

"Indeed," Arokh said with a yawn. 

Morghus sniffed. "_You_ can go spend an hour finding and chasing breakfast. I was just offering an alternative." So saying, he launched himself high into the air, did a sharp twist and dove down, plunging headfirst and jaws agape into the water with a great splash. Arokh watched with a kind of polite interest as his brother emerged, waddled to the shore and shook head and wings dry. Morghus then bowed his neck and bared his teeth, between which a good deal of sea-water drained out. Then he levelled his head again and breathed a short but extremely hot burst of fire that went no further than his own nose. Finally, with a grin at Arokh, he tipped back his head and swallowed. 

"You've done this before, I take it," Arokh said, sounding amused. 

Morghus licked his fangs and grinned again. "Great for a meal on the fly, especially over an ocean. Just glide over the water and lower your head, open your jaws so the water flows through them, and scoop up anything you catch. Don't drink the water, though." 

"You've done _that_ before, too?" Arokh was grinning now. 

Morghus made a face. "It wasn't my fault. A sea serpent decided to pop its head up, I got startled... and swallowed." 

"That must have been exciting." 

"I had a hurt stomach the rest of the day." 

"What _are_ you two talking about?" Rynn asked, emerging from the tower with a yawn. 

"Fishing," Arokh replied. 

Morghus brightened. "Would you like some deep-fried fish for breakfast, Rynn? I can go catch some more." 

"Would I be eating these fish after they'd been in your mouth?" Rynn asked. 

"Uh, well, yes." The black dragon shook his head. "Humans. Dragons share kills all the time. I once saw two human children fighting over this piece of food. One of them _licks_ the food, then the other one gives up!" He shook his head in bewilderment. "Giving up after one lick? What's the harm with a bit of spittle?" 

Rynn stretched and felt her joints creak. She took a deep breath, and suddenly noticed she didn't smell too good. "I think I need a bath. There isn't any fresh water around here, is there?" 

"You can use magic to make water fresh, Rynn," Arokh reminded her. 

"Oh. Right. What about soap?" 

"What's soap made out of?" Arokh asked Morghus. 

The black dragon shrugged. "Something earthy? Or is it oily? Can't you just use a sea-sponge, or something?" 

"Pumice is good for exfoliation," Arokh suggested. 

"_Pumice_?" Rynn exclaimed. "I'm not going to find any pumice around here! I just want _soap_." 

"Don't ask us, then," Morghus said. "Soap doesn't really do much for dragon-hide, except give it a nice herbal aroma." He let out a sound as if he'd just had a revelation. "Herbs! Don't forget to give your magic soap a nice smell, Rynn." 

Rynn stared at him, then sighed. "Arokh, you're the one who has to carry me. What should-" 

"Lavender," Arokh said promptly. 

"Lavender," Rynn repeated flatly. "Right. Was there anything else?" 

"Lavender?" Morghus said, raising an eye-ridge at his brother. 

"What's wrong with lavender?" Arokh asked defensively. 

"Nothing at all." 

Arokh gave him a suspicious look. "I think I'll find myself some breakfast, now." 

"Fish?" 

"Preferably something bigger." 

"Ah, whale!" 

"You _must_ be joking." 

"Now, Arokh, whale meat is very good for you. As an added bonus, whales can actually put up a fight when you try to catch them." 

Arokh gazed at him steadily for a while, then rolled his eyes. "Oh very well..." 

"Have fun," Rynn said and the two dragons took flight immediately. As she walked down to the bay, she shook her head and muttered, "That must have been one of the most pointless conversations I've even heard." 


	29. Conference

_Conference_

Rynn returned to the belltower feeling refreshed. As she walked over to the cooking fire, she squeezed water out of her hair and wondered if there would be a brush or comb handy. 

Nashiva and Kang-shi lounged on the sun-warmed grass while Ebontyne, Star and Glaive sat eating breakfast. 

"...wondering what our next course of action should be," Glaive was saying between mouthfuls. He nodded at Rynn as she sat down. "I have little doubt that had Kang-shi, Star, Nashiva and I killed you two and your Bonded, then Navaros would have had us done away with." 

Ebontyne said, "That's what I would have assumed." 

"But listen," the dark-skinned warrior said, leaning forward and crossing his arms over his knees. "If he _thought_ we were dead, then he'd go ahead with that spell of his." 

"I thought we didn't want him to cast that," Star pointed out. 

Glaive shook his head. "We don't, but we'll have plenty of time before he finishes it. And during the casting, he'll be vulnerable." 

Ebontyne looked at Rynn, who had sat down and taken a bowl of porridge. "Vulnerable to what?" she asked carefully. 

"Anything." 

"I have an idea," Rynn said, pausing with the spoon halfway to her mouth. She put it down, taking a deep breath as the others looked at her. "When he's casting his spell, I can cast the Great Spell of Protection. That would trap him and-" 

"-protect everyone from his spell," Glaive said, eyes widening. Then he frowned. "But the risks... and you're not even a properly trained magi." 

"I'll be ready. If I pulled it off, it'd work, right?" 

"Until how long?" Ebontyne asked. "We can't keep Navaros trapped forever. You _do_ want your brother back, don't you?" 

"I'm thinking that through," Rynn said. 

"What if the Protection spell were cast, but not activated until you and Arokh were within its boundaries?" Star suggested. "Don't the crystals have to be removed from the symbol before the field can go up?" 

Glaive raised a brow at him and nodded. "That's true. But it would mean Rynn and Arokh - or anyone else who went inside the boundary - would be at the mercy of Navaros." 

"We don't want to kill him," Star said, and Rynn nodded. "But... what if we could exorcise his soul from Delon's body?" 

"Not with Runeblade," Rynn objected. 

"No," Star said softly. "What about a Jewel of Eternity?" 

"No," Glaive said, shaking his head. "It wouldn't work. Navaros' essence is part dragon because of Kaeros. We don't know that a Jewel would have the capacity to hold a draconic soul." 

"We don't _know_," Star repeated, smiling. "So there's a chance it'll work." 

"One problem," Ebontyne said. "Do we know where to find a Jewel?" 

Glaive said, "The Wasteland in the Eastern Wilds. The Fang Crags hold a stash of them in their caves." 

"How do they work?" Rynn asked. "I mean, if we got one, how would we get Navaros to use it?" 

"Easy," Ebontyne told her. "All he has to do is hold it fully enclosed in one hand. He doesn't have to say anything - just hold it like that for a few seconds." 

The four humans sat quiet for a moment, eating and thinking about this barely formed plan. 

"It could work," Star said. 

"Could," Glaive grunted. "But there's another problem. How will we make Navaros believe we're all dead?" 

"We need a someone to tell a convincing lie," Ebontyne murmured, eyes narrowing in thought. 

"Succubi?" Rynn suggested. "You think we could take on the Queen and get her to give Navaros a bogus report?" 

"I think we could," Star agreed. 

"Two of us should go there, then," Glaive said, "and the other two get a Jewel. If Navaros falls for it, he'll probably want to get that spell started as soon as possible. We'll have to be ready." He looked at the two women. "Rynn would be known as a threat in the hive, but Star and I are known to still serve Navaros. I think we two should go. We might be able to walk straight in without a fight." 

Ebontyne nodded. "Agreed." 

"Looks like we have a plan," Star said. 

Rynn put down her bowl and tied her hair back, trying to hide her shaking hands. She had about four days to become a good enough archmage to be able to cast the Great Spell of Protection without frying everyone. 


	30. The Fang Crags

_The Fang Crags_

Rynn backed away, teeth bared in a snarl as she was forced closer to the stone wall of the cave. The darkness pressed in around her and there was barely any light, save from the several glowing red eyes of the quicklings. 

A small, shadowy form darted in, jaws snapping and razor claws whipping out. Rynn threw herself evey further back, slashing with Runeblade. She felt it nick something and there was a squeal of fury. 

Three more quicklings leaped in, their movements so fast that they were dark blurs in the greater blackness of the cave. 

Rynn thrust her hand out and flames blossomed from her fingertips in a golden blaze. 

Shrill squeaks of pain accompanied the roar of the fire. Rynn let the spell fade and jumped forward with Runeblade tearing glittering blue paths through the dark air, aiming at shapes only half-seen. The weapon connected with something and made a satisfying _crunch_. She whirled it back again, hitting another foe. 

A scraping, skittering noise heralded the flight of the rest. 

Rynn spent a minute gasping for breath, then called up another gout of fire. The flames danced over the earthen floor and grey-brown stone of the cave walls. The ceiling was plunged into shadows high above. She thought she could see eyes up there, reflecting the firelight as they watched her. 

Keeping Runeblade in her right hand and the fire hovering above her left, she hurried down the passage the quicklings had been clustered around. 

There was a chest. 

She glanced around quickly for sight of any more enemies, but saw nothing. This passage was the only way into the cavern, too, and its ceiling was low enough to see clearly. She walked forward and prodded the lid of the chest with Runeblade. Putting the sword down, she tried opening the chest, and found it unlocked. The brass hinges creaked slightly in protest. The inside of the chest was layered with a soft black material, and nestled at the very bottom was a small cluster of luminous jewels. 

Rynn swivelled the chest around so she could examine the chest's contents but be facing the passage. Then she carefully reached in and pulled out one of the gems, holding it between her thumb and forefinger. It was about the size of her little fingernail, a pale green colour and as transparent as glass. She sniffed it, half expecting that it was grimstone, but there was no odour. 

She allowed herself a grim smile. 

Pulling a leather pouch from her belt, she dropped the jewel into it and scooped up a few more, just in case. Standing, she frowned slightly with concentration and used Air to close the chest. It didn't hurt to keep in practise. 

Tying the pouch to her belt as securely as she could, she drew Runeblade and left the small cave. A thought caused the magical fire to flare higher and brighter. She could hear the quicklings skittering around at the edge of the light. 

So they were fearful of the light, were they? Good. 

Ignoring them she walked back through the caverns, retracing her steps to the entrance of this underground warren. Arokh and Morghus would be waiting. When Ebontyne returned, unless she was already waiting, they'd fly straight to Mount Tibor and rejoin with the other Bonded. 

And prepare for the beginning of the end. 


	31. Shiv'arass Ravine

_Shiv'arass Ravine_

_Perfect... simply perfect._

Rynn glanced down the left hand tunnel, then the right. She didn't remember a fork. But this _had_ to be the right way... she couldn't be lost. 

She turned suddenly and sent a blast of fire down the passage she'd just come through. She caught a glimpse of black shapes leaping swiftly aside, and heard shrill, derisive laughter. The creatures knew, she realised with a sinking feeling. They knew she'd lost her way. All they had to do was dog her trail until she left her guard down or gave up and... 

"Rynn?" 

Rynn suppressed a gasp of relief and blinked at the glitter of light approaching around a bend in the right-hand branch. It was Ebontyne, her fire magic bobbing beside her helmeted head. 

Surprisingly, the War Mage looked relieved. 

"I thought I'd gotten lost," Ebontyne admitted reluctantly, and her expression turned to one of self-disgust. "I could have sworn I'd come in this way." 

Since she could afford to be honest, Rynn decided she could as well. "You're not the only one." 

"That's something, I guess. It was tough going for me before I decided to use magic to defend myself. The creatures down here seem to be resistance to my sword's power." 

"Like that black unicorn?" 

"Exactly." Ebontyne looked back over her shoulder, down Rynn's tunnel, then at the third branch, which had a distinct downward slope. "I guess we go that way. I'll watch our backs." 

They started walking, Rynn feeling much better with some human company. The darkness was so absolute outside the circle of firelight, save for the glittering of eyes, and the ceaseless sounds of the quicklings' chattering and the scratchy sounds when they darted across the ground had started to get her nervous. This place reminded her a little of a spider cave she'd cleared a while back... only worse. 

Here you couldn't see the webs. 

"What the..!" Rynn stopped abruptly, wiping something from her face. It was hair-thin and clingy, sticking to her hand as she tried to shake it off. 

Ebontyne drew in a sharp breath. "Rynn... does it look like the walls are... moving?" 

Rynn looked quickly at the tunnel wall on her left. It wasn't going anywhere. But... it did look like it was shifting... like its colours were warping within the boundaries of the stone. No... she peered closer. Colours? The wall was black, with only varying shades of dark grey and even deep violet. What was that hazy stuff drifting cloud-like out of the stone? 

"Shiv'arass Ravine," Ebontyne whispered, and when Rynn looked at her there was an expression of open horror on her face. "We have to go back. _Now_." 

Rynn didn't have to be told twice. They spun to dash back up the passage... which wasn't there any more. Only a wall of that shifting darkness. 

Darkness... 

"Ebontyne," Rynn said slowly, "this isn't the place where you got the material for your shadowshiv sword, is it?" 

Ebontyne nodded, her face even paler than usual. 

"What's going to happen?" Rynn demanded. "What's down here and how do we fight it?" 

"Darkness is down here," Ebontyne replied softly. "And you have no more hope in fighting it than you have of fighting water as you drown." 

"But you've been down here before?" 

"Only the edges." She shivered. "I had no idea we were this close. Or that the darkness had spread this far." 

"Ebontyne, focus," Rynn said, her commanding tone deliberate. The other woman's eyes hardened at the words, and some of the steel returned to her voice as she said, "What do you want to do?" 

"Get through," Rynn answered firmly. "Any ideas how we can do that?" 

"Only one. Walk straight in with your head high, and no fear." 

"What?" 

"That's what this place _is_. That's what _this_ is," Ebontyne said, drawing the shadowshiv. "The stuff of nightmares. Your fears. It gets into your mind... and you lose control." 

Remembering her encounter with Ebontyne's sword, Rynn didn't doubt it. 

"It's worse than that," Ebontyne rasped, once again seeming to read her mind. "My sword is a mere shadow compared to this blackness. What you saw that day by the shadowshiv's blade is _nothing_, literally. A vision. Down here where we're surrounded by it's very substance, what you feel is _real_, Rynn. You will live out your fears. And if you're not strong enough, your fears will eat you alive." 

"There must be more to it," Rynn objected, chilled to the bone and already feeling very much afraid. "I mean, that unicorn was afraid of _me_, but he wasn't affected by your sword!" 

"Vakailan is a creature of this place. He's a spawn of darkness, fear and chaos. Fighting him with a shadowshiv would be like fighting fire with fire. You _can't_. It must be the same for the other creatures down here." She fell silent. 

Rynn stared into the vast darkness before her, the black walls of the passage growing more indistinct and less solid by the minute. The two magical fires were dwindling, too, as though they were being choked. Rynn felt a panicky need to laugh at the notion of darkness overpowering light, and opened her mouth, taking in a ragged gulp of air. 

"I don't even know if there _is_ a way out," Ebontyne said, almost too softly to be heard. 

Rynn offered her hand and Ebontyne gripped it tightly. As a passing thought, she was glad she was wearing gauntlets. Her sweaty palms would have given away her terror in a second. 

The darkness pressed around them, a hollow, whispering sound filling the air. 

"Don't make _that_ one of your fears, whatever you do," Rynn replied faintly, "or, as you said, it'll be real." 

With a soft hiss, the lights went out. 

_...and in the sudden silence, Rynn thought she heard her brother's cry of her name..._


	32. The Deeper Darkness

_The Deeper Darkness_

_"What do you fear?"_

The words were there and gone so quickly Rynn couldn't decide if she'd actually heard them. Her attention was suddenly snared by the chill, groping feeling inside her own skull. A sweat broke out across her skin and she started to shake violently. Her knees felt too weak to hold her upright. 

_"But of course... you fear what will be found._" 

Rynn forced her dry throat to swallow and stubbornly locked her legs. Although her heart was hammering, she followed Ebontyne's advice of holding her head up and stared grimly into the darkness. She tightened her grip reassuringly on the hand grasping hers. 

It's funny that when someone tells you not to think of something, you almost always do. The simplest way to ignore something is not to draw attention to it in the first place. In not trying to think of her fears, Rynn felt each and every one bubble up in her thoughts, happily offering themselves to be viewed and made flesh. 

The cold feeling crept around inside her mind like a freakish hand. 

_"Ahh..._" 

Rynn almost jumped. She had felt breath brush against her face. 

Or maybe it was just the darkness... _solid_ darkness. 

Then her own voice whispered... _"You fear yourself..._" 

The darkness shifted... 

***

Delon's form staggered back on the rocky platform, his hands clutching his head as Runeblade's magic exorcised Navaros from his mind. 

Rynn, breathing heavily and clutching Runeblade in both hands, abruptly noticed the hole in the platform... and ran forward... screaming... "_DELON!_" 

Her brother stepped off the brink and fell, his fingers almost brushing his sister's gauntleted hand as she made a last desperate grab. 

"_RYYNNNNNNNnnnnnnn...._" 

"I'm sorry," Rynn choked, crouching on the edge of oblivion. "I'm so sorry..." 

***

_"...you fear you're not enough..._" 

The darkness shifted... 

***

"We're ready," Star said. He finished tracing the last line of the Order's symbol on the ground with his dagger. Sheathing it, he backed away and drew his bow. "It's up to you now, Rynn." 

"Good luck," Glaive and Ebontyne said. 

The four dragons said nothing, each standing in a circle around the pattern and facing outwards, watching for any enemies that might sight what they were doing and come running. Only Arokh glanced back to give his Bonded an encouraging wink. 

Looming above them with dark clouds roiling about its heights was Mount Tibor. 

Rynn stepped forward to stand in the center of the pattern, but sudden fear grasped her. What if she did this wrong? She'd kill all her friends. "You shouldn't be so close," she cautioned. 

"We trust in you," Ebontyne said. "It's a part of the spell, remember? You need our trust." 

"You need to believe in my intentions, not in my abilities," Rynn pointed out. "What if-" 

"Rynn, I believe you can do it. Don't fear." Ebontyne drew her black sword with a smile and turned to stand guard with the others. 

A gush of wind swept across them all, as cold as the depths of winter. Distant thunder rumbled from the storm above the mountain, and the clouds there suddenly parted in a wide, black circle, lightning dancing around the circumference. 

"Hurry," Glaive said softly. 

Rynn felt a moment of panic. She wasn't ready! On top of that, some part of her mind was screaming that this wasn't even happening! She was totally confused and frozen... knowing that what she was about to do would end it all. 

But not for Navaros. 

"Now!" Glaive snapped, and Rynn drew a sharp breath, calling upon all of the elemental magics at the same time... Fire flashed in her mind, fuelled by her high-running emotions... Earth rumbled, as firm as the ground she stood on... Air sang, its voice shrill with her unsteady breathing... Water glistened, drawn from the newly falling rain... 

Rynn held all four forces within herself and felt them grow, boiling up inside like a potion going beserk. 

"This spell of my casting, I cast for the hope of the future," she gasped out, the first phrase of the ritual. 

She got no further. 

The spell detonated with a ghastly roar and the pent-up force of the four elements exploded outwards in a tidal-wave of death. Rynn caught a glimpse of faces turned to her in horrified disbelief before they were torn away and the screams began... 

...her own among them... 

***

"..._you fear failure..._" 

The darkness shifted... 

***

"_You are all that remains to keep the Flame alive..!_" 

Rimril's last words flashed through her agonised mind as Delon's face smiled. His foot lashed out and caught her under the chin where she knelt, throwing her back to land face-up on the rocky summit of Mount Tibor. 

Chaotic energies filled the void that had torn a hole in the sky above her... Navaros' spell coming at last. 

"Watch your world die, girl," Navaros said, and lifted his hands to embrace the emerald-green fire pouring down from the void. It struck him full on, a pillar of green flames from the sky, then flared outwards in every direction like light scattered from a crystal. 

One of the beams shot through Rynn and she felt something deep within herself being ripped away... 

...somewhere, Arokh was roaring in pain... 

***

"_Sssssscream for ussssss, Rynnnnnnn..._" 


	33. The Last Shadow

_The Last Shadow_

Invisible talons tore into her body, already maimed by fears that had come to life. Through the pain of burns, bruises and a horrible empty feeling within that she didn't understand, the cold grip continued to creep through her mind. It was the least painful sensation... but the most noticeable. 

Something rock-hard struck her jaw and she was thrown to the ground, gasping, hands clenching into fists. She was dimly aware that she'd dropped Runeblade... that she was weaponless. 

Right on cue, the bodiless voice whispered, "_You fear death_." 

"Nooo," Rynn moaned in despair. She'd never feared it before. But here, where it seemed a very real possibility... 

...and where fear was reality... 

Rynn tried to stand and failed, knocked down by the darkness. "I'm not afraid!" she shouted, her voice cracking. 

The shadows laughed. 

"_You are a liar_." 

The darkness shifted... 

***

"This isn't happening, this isn't real," Rynn whispered desperately, eyes shut. 

"If only it were so," Arokh's voice rumbled from nearby. 

"No, you don't understand, it's _not real_!" Rynn moaned. She folded in on herself, hands clenching around grass that crumbled at her touch. "I'm _not afraid_!" 

There was a moment of quiet. 

"I am," Arokh said softly. 

Rynn looked to the red dragon quickly, eyes opening. He was lying stretched out on the ground before her, on the wind-swept summit of Mount Tibor. His fiery eyes were dull and half-closed, watching her sadly, his wings splayed out as though he lacked the strength to fold them. 

"No, Arokh, don't give up!" Rynn pushed her aching body over to him, her vision swimming with the pain. "_Don't die_!" 

The massive jaws curved into a small smile. "Don't think there's much choice in the matter, my friend." 

"Where are you hurt? I'll heal you!" 

"Not even the mightiest Archmage could heal a stolen soul." He managed a slight nod at her shock. "He took mine too, Rynn..." 

"Then how..?" 

"...are we still alive?" Another half-smile. "I'd explain my theory if I wasn't so sore. No point... now..." 

"Stay with me!" Rynn shouted. "I forbid you to die!" 

"Not fair..." he muttered. "Can't help it..." 

She stood up, bracing herself against his strong neck The wind and rain lashed her body, stinging like acid against her burns and lacerations. Wild energies flashed across the sky above her like a mad whirlpool of cloud and lightning. "Where is Navaros?" 

"...gone..." Arokh said softly. "...took Drakan's soul... took Runeblade... left..." 

And now she was feeling the dragon's deathly lethargy seep into her bones. The determination drained from her like water. All she wanted to do was lie down and close her eyes. There was nothing left to fight for, and no chance of winning. 

She sat down in the curve of his neck and drew her knees up to her chest. There was nothing left... but to wait. From the feel of things, it wouldn't be long. 

"You're truly not afraid?" Arokh asked. 

Rynn turned her head slightly to look into one of his eyes. "Not when you're here." 

He watched her silently for a second, then smiled. "Then we will face it together." 

"Together." She leaned back against his neck and watched the storm rage. "As always, Arokh." More softly... "Head high..." 

***

"...without fear..." she whispered, letting out a long breath. 

She didn't draw another one. 

The darkness swirled away from her like vultures abandon a skeleton that's been picked clean. A black shape detached itself from the shadows and bore the body away... 


	34. Interlude #2

_Interlude_

The image of the succubus on the surface of the grimstone viewing machine bowed, bat-like wings sweeping out respectfully. 

"The Bonded are no more, great Rift Lord. They are dead." 

Navaros gestured and the picture vanished. He looked at his body's reflection in the screen for a minute and remembered the powerful dreams that had come to him scarce minutes ago, and the feelings of omnipotence that had come with them. 

"Two Bonded, at least," he murmured. He looked down at his right hand and closed it slowly, remembering the grip of a sword's hilt under his fingers... the glitter of the Rift Crystal above his fist. 

"The only pair that mattered. The others, alive or not, are nothing without Runeblade." 

Navaros looked at the Death Mage hovering silently on his right. "Send word to the generals. We go to Mount Tibor." 

"You are certain, Lord?" 

"She is dead, Sahskan. I am counting on my loyal servants to defend me while I cast the spell. Let us hope you do better than last time." 

The mage bowed. "Yes, Lord." 

Navaros sat back in his throne as the creature departed. Under his breath he quoted one of the Dark Union's prophecies: "San terr shivarass kel en arokh she barran. San vec sa, rynn." 

_And by darkness shall the righteous fire be quenched. And with it, hope._


	35. The Border of Reality

_The Border of Reality_

The first thing she felt was warmth. A pleasant warmth on her face. The second sensation was wind in her hair. 

The thought "_This isn't so bad_," crossed her mind, and she took a deep breath through her nose. 

"_No...wait a second...if I was dead I wouldn't be breathing. Or I wouldn't _need_ to. Does that mean I shouldn't be able to_?" 

In any case, something nearby didn't smell too good. 

She opened her eyes and blinked up at an intensely blue sky and an incandescent sun. Squinting, she sat up. 

Ebontyne was crouched before her with an impatient expression on her face. "So glad you've decided to join us." 

"Are you dead too?" Rynn asked, not sure whether to be glad or upset. 

Additionally, the War Mage wasn't someone she'd have chosen to spend her afterlife with. 

"Unfortunately not," Ebontyne replied. 

"You're not?" 

"_No._" 

"Oh." 

There could only be one logical explanation, then. 

"Am I a soul shadow?" 

Ebontyne growled, then punched her in the stomach. 

Rynn doubled over with a grunt but recovered quickly, her armour absorbing most of the blow. "What was that for?" 

"It answered your stupid questions before you could ask them all." 

"Go easy on her," Morghus said. The black dragon had padded up behind his Bonded and craned his neck over her shoulder. "She's been through a lot." 

Ebontyne looked at him. "Arokh?" 

"Just woke up." 

"Wait," Rynn interrupted. "I'm _alive_? I..." she hesitated as Ebontyne scowled at her, but continued resolutely. "I could have sworn I died." 

"You did," Ebontyne replied, "in _there_." She stood up and stalked away. 

"Why's she angry?" Rynn asked. 

Morghus looked uncomfortable. "Because... you made her afraid." 

"Me? How?" 

"She fears your death. She thinks you and Arokh are the only way to stop Navaros, and if you die... so will Drakan." 

"And so will she," Rynn added softly. 

"No." Morghus shook his great head. "She doesn't fear her own death. When we first met you and Arokh she was trying to find her Jewel to end her life, remember? She's not evil, Rynn, and neither am I. We didn't join the Dark Union to destroy the world, as Navaros plans to do. We joined it because we thought it would benefit Drakan." 

Rynn glanced over to where the black-armoured woman was speaking with Arokh. "Did she save me?" 

"She carried you out of Shiv'arass Ravine, yes. Had you stayed in there, you would have stayed dead. The reality of that place stops where the darkness ends, Rynn. You were breathing again as soon as light touched you." 

"How did she get out?" Rynn asked, not knowing how to feel. 

"Painfully." Morghus shivered. "She fears life, and she was alive every step of the way." 

"I don't understand." 

His scaled shoulders shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure I do, either, and I felt most of it myself. You could ask her, but she wouldn't tell _me_." 

They were still in the Eastern Wilds, and close to the ravine, Rynn saw. Of course, Ebontyne and Morghus wouldn't have been able to carry herself and Arokh back west. The ground was a parched, dusty rock, and there was a stagnant pool nearby. Shadows were lengthening as the sun sank, and Rynn felt herself edge away from them. 

"If you're ready," Ebontyne said, walking over with Arokh following behind her, "we'd best move right now. I don't want to stay in this place any longer than we have to. Besides, time is now against us." She held up the pouch Rynn had put the Jewels of Eternity in and nodded at the young warrior. "Nice work, by the way." She tossed it over and Rynn caught it, putting it in her own belt again. 

"Can you handle the flight?" Morghus asked Arokh. The black dragon sounded worried. 

Arokh stretched a foreclaw experimentally and nodded. "The stiffness is fading. I should be fine." 

Rynn stared at him from where she sat in sudden realisation. "Are you all right?" 

"Are you?" he rumbled. 

"Y-" She stopped, her eyes widening as though someone had just punched her a hundred times harder than Ebontyne had. "Runeblade! I dropped it in-" 

"It's on your back," Ebontyne said. 

Rynn looked back over her shoulder. Sure enough, the hilt and the Rift Crystal were glittering there. 

"It was lying next to you when I found you." Ebontyne's jaw tightened, then she reached back and put her helmet on, hiding her face. She turned to mount Morghus. 

Rynn opened her mouth. She had so many questions. How they'd got out, how Ebontyne had found her... she settled for asking just one, for now. "What was the point?" 

"Of going through all that, you mean?" Ebontyne asked, her voice hollow. The helmet turned in Rynn's direction. "For the shadows, we were just a meal. They feed off fear. The more afraid of something you are, the better it tastes. That's how I understand it, anyway." She settled on Morghus' back, her armour clinking against his scales. "When I said your fears eat you alive in there, I wasn't being metaphoric. 

"If you mean what was the point for _us_, I guess it's whatever you make of it. Perhaps you learned something about yourself you'd rather not have known. I certainly did." 

When Rynn didn't move, Ebontyne added, "We have to get to Mount Tibor." 

Rynn closed her eyes as fresh fear washed through her. She drew a shaky breath. It was an insane plan. She had no chance of pulling this off, and yet it was too late to back away from it now. The alternative was killing her brother's body with Runeblade, and she couldn't do that. 

"It won't happen that way," Ebontyne's voice said softly, quite near. Rynn looked at the woman's face through tears. She'd dismounted again and was crouched beside her, helmet off. There was sympathy in the ice-blue eyes. "I saw part of what you went through, Rynn. You won't fail." 

"How can you know?" Rynn whispered, wiping her eyes. "I'm not ready." 

"You will be." 


	36. Jewels of Eternity

_Jewels of Eternity_

Rynn still didn't move, so Ebontyne sighed and sat down beside her. 

"I can't _make_ you feel better, Rynn," she said, looking off at the setting sun. "Do you want to talk a bit? Just until you feel up to getting on with things?" 

"Flying to our deaths, you mean?" 

"If you want to think of it that way," was the infuriatingly patient reply. How could the woman _do_ that? One moment as steady as a rock, and the next as sharp as steel. 

Some part of Rynn wanted to make a biting reply, to goad Ebontyne into unsheathing that steel on her. It would give her anger a visible target. 

"How do these work?" she asked instead, touching the pouch with the Jewels in them. 

There. That would be a safe topic. She looked at Ebontyne and knew the woman wasn't fooled. The notion of 'talk' related to personal problems, not stuff like this. 

"I know you have to hold them closed in your hand to activate them, but what happens then?" Rynn went on. 

Ebontyne sighed again, and Rynn caught a glimpse of the old woman the War Mage should be. "One of two things. If you're not Bonded, you go mad. You can't survive without an anchor, and that's sort of what a soul is. You won't age or die without help, but you won't be in a position to appreciate it." 

She paused to flick a red beetle off her knee. "If you are Bonded, the part of you that isn't tied to your dragon is absorbed into the Jewel." 

"What do you mean?" 

"Look." Ebontyne plucked two strands of long grass-like growth sprouting from the side of the rock she was sitting on, and tied the end of one to the end of the other. "This strand is Morghus, and this one is me." She broke the latter where it started to go into the knot and dropped it. "There's still a bit of me there, an anchor reinforced by Morghus' soul." 

"What if Morghus' soul crystal was taken?" 

She shrugged. "I don't know. Fortunately, dragons are too smart to give their soul crystals to anyone but their Bonded. Of course, there are dangers there. Look at Kaeros." 

"Navaros' dragon?" 

Ebontyne nodded. "Getting back to the Jewels. You feel strangely empty, but get used to that after a while. It's odd, though nothing more than that." 

"It felt horrible," Rynn said softly. 

The War Mage stared at her, then the pouch. "You didn't use-" 

"No. I...Navaros took my soul in Shiv'arass. I remember what it felt like." 

She nodded and laced her fingers together, looking at Rynn with a surprisingly gentle expression. "It does feel like that initially." 

"So. You don't age and won't die, but what about _you_? Your Jewel doesn't even exist any more, so how does that work? I thought you said you'd die when you destroyed your Jewel." 

Ebontyne's jaw tightened a little, telling Rynn it'd be best to tread more softly with this topic. "There were experiments with the Jewels before they were put to common use. Destroying a Jewel will release the soul trapped within, and that soul will enter the nearest sentient being it can. It can't enter something like a tree or a rock. If there's nothing around to anchor to, it'll disipate unless it's very strong." 

"Delon's soul isn't anchored to anything," Rynn said, feeling sick. 

"It's different in the Rift, so don't worry about him. My Jewel was apparently destroyed by the fallen angel, and _it_ absorbed my soul. Don't ask me how, but I can _feel_ that my soul still exists." She shook her head angrily. "I should have asked the angel to tell me where my soul was, not merely my Jewel. In any case, _it_ now contains my soul. I don't pretend to know that much about the Fallen, but _perhaps_, because they, like the Jewels, never change, neither do I." 

"Never change?" 

"They're constant. They stay in one place, their needs are always the same, they don't die. I have no idea if they're unkillable. If they're not, I might still have a chance." She shook her head again. "Our experiments showed that if someone's soul was released into a _second_ mortal being, it would be different to that. The first would share the lifespan of the other, which would be shorter with the strain of two souls on him. The first would not age, but if either died they both would. However, the second would feel any pain the first felt, but not the other way around." 

"Does this mean that the angel feels your pain? Or that if you die, it will? If it dies, _you_ will? Isn't a soul released if a...vessel dies?" 

Ebontyne waited impatiently for her to shut up. "'No' to the first three. The angel isn't mortal, remember? That means it doesn't age and die like... well, like you do. I don't know the answer to the last. If the soul is released from a mortal vessel, I've never heard of it re-anchoring." 

"So we have to get Navaros to use a Jewel...that will free Delon's body? Make him insane until I get my brother's soul back where it belongs? How will I do _that_?" 

"You never ask them one at a time, do you?" the War Mage growled. "_Theoretically_, Delon will be insane if this works, yes. But you have to remember that the soul we're dealing with isn't entirely human. There's a chance the Jewels won't be powerful enough to contain a partially draconic soul. I don't know what will happen if that turns out to be the case, and let's worry about Delon's soul when we get that far, yes?" 

The talk had, in fact, calmed Rynn down somewhat. She nodded and got to her feet. "I guess we should get to Mount Tibor, then." 

"About time." Ebontyne stood and went over to Morghus, who lowered one wing to help her mount. "Let's stop Navaros _before_ he casts that spell." 

"When we do," Rynn said, "and this is over, let's try for the Fallen Angel." 

"Why? It'll be dangerous, if it's even possible." 

"What have you got to lose?" 

Ebontyne scratched her neck thoughtfully. "We'll see. Come on." 

Rynn climbed astride Arokh, who was airborne before she'd even seated herself properly. She suddenly felt her stomach churn with renewed fear as the two dragons began their flight, and closed her eyes to the receeding wastelands. The warm wind seemed to burn against her face. 

She was Drakan's only hope. Rimril had believed it. So did Ebontyne. 

For some reason, she couldn't. 


	37. Mount Tibor

_Mount Tibor_

The night sky was aglow with stars, and Drakan's twin moons were mere slivers of light against the black. Below, a vast expanse of puffy whiteness shifted and eddied in the cold wind, ever changing between one shape and the next. 

Up ahead, a break appeared in the clouds. Solid ground could be seen on the other side and a long way down. Grassy hills - the greens and golds leeched away by the night. 

A sudden drop in altitude, straight through the gap. Wisps of cloud were tugged along in the wake of leathery wings, trailing thin lines through the air before falling away... above. 

Then could be seen the land stretching in all directions, though barely visible beneath the cloud cover. Most of the hills were in shadow and silent... unmoving sculptures of night. 

There was a larger darkness ahead. It jutted up from the land, all sheer edges and angles rising to an inwardly curved summit. The base of this mass was yet more gently sloping hills, but less than a tenth of the way up it turned to stone cliffs and rocky outcrops that would challenge the best of mountaineers. In the night, it was impossible to see if there was a path. 

But when one is riding a dragon, paths become sort of unneccessary. 

Arokh and Morghus skirted the outer edge of the crater once, their eyes scanning the dark interior. 

"See them?" Morghus asked his brother, who nodded. 

"Let's go down." 

They circled the inner edge, rocks smoothed by time speeding past. One section of the crater's edge they went by had crumbled down low - a perfect place for a waterfall had there been any water. It looked like it hadn't rained here in some time. 

The dragons landed, and from the crater's deeper shadows came the other Bonded. 

"You succeeded?" Ebontyne asked Glaive. 

He nodded. "We saw the new Succubus Queen send the message to Navaros." 

"Then we killed her and smashed the message machine," Star added. "There weren't that many succubi left in the hive anyway." 

"Did _you_ succeed?" Glaive asked Ebontyne. 

"Rynn has the Jewels of Eternity," she replied, glancing back over her shoulder. 

Rynn had managed to slide off Arokh's back before exhaustion and despair had set in again, convincing her that sleep (or even unconsciousness) was better than this. Arokh was curled around her prone body like a huge, scaley cat, one wing folded over her protectively. His flaming eyes met Ebontyne's own, and in them was fear. 

But Rynn's fear or Arokh's own, the War Mage couldn't know. 

"What's wrong with them?" Star asked softly. 

"Rynn and I went through Shiv'arass." 

"Shiv-whatess?" 

But Glaive winced. "Oh." 

"_What_?" 

"You don't need to know, Star," Ebontyne said. "Trust me - you don't _want_ to know." 

"That bad?" 

"Worse." She looked at Glaive again. "She's afraid, old friend. She's doubting her abilities." 

"That will prove fatal in the spell she means to cast," Glaive said, his brow creasing. 

"Will she have to cast it?" Star asked. "If it's _that_ dangerous-" 

"She doesn't have to," Glaive interrupted, "but it's a safety precaution. Ebontyne, is Rynn still willing to go on with her plan?" 

She and Rynn had spoken of it on the way there. When Navaros began his ritual, Rynn would cast the spell while the other Bonded stood guard around her. When the spell was ready to take form around Mount Tibor's summit, she and Arokh would fly within it to where Navaros was, at which point the prisms would be removed from the pattern by the Bonded, activating the shield. Rynn would try to force Navaros to use a Jewel while he was in his trance and before the ritual was complete. If she failed... well... at least Navaros would be trapped. 

"Rynn will go on," Ebontyne said. 

"That's something. When she wakes, I'll train her some more. Sounds like she needs some encouragement." 

"Train? How much time do we have?" 

"Navaros is bringing along his army," Star said. "We think they'll take a few more days." 

"Be more specific." 

"Three, minimum." 

***

"Are they still talking about me?" Rynn whispered. 

Arokh's reply was as soft as a dragon's could be. "They are worried." 

"What about you?" 

"I feel what you feel." 

"But do you understand it?" 

He sighed. "No." 

Rynn curled herself into a tighter ball. 

"Because..." Arokh lay his head on the ground beside her under his wing. "Because... somehow, I remember you saying that you're not afraid when I'm there." 

She looked at him sadly. 

"Has that changed?" 

"No... but the spell... I'll be on my own when I cast it. Just me." 

"We are Bonded, Rynn. By Fire and by Blood. It will _never_ be 'just me'." 

She caught her breath. "Will you be able to help?" 

"Can a dragon breathe fire?" 


	38. Ether

_Ether_

_"Navaros went beyond the magic system because of Kaeros..."_

***

"Fire," Glaive commanded. 

Rynn concentrated, feeling for her Bond with Arokh. The red dragon shifted behind her, raising his head. 

A globe of crimson flame burst into existance above Rynn's left shoulder. 

***

_"...the might of draconic powers crammed into a human vessel..."_

***

"Water." 

She drew from the clouds and the earth. Arokh steadied the spell, his knowledge of breathing and controlling ice mingling with Rynn's knowledge of creating it. 

A bubble of water coalasced over Rynn's right shoulder. 

***

_"...but it was a human vessel with half a human soul..."_

***

"Earth." 

Maintaining the Fire and Water with Arokh's help, Rynn set the other half of her attention on the ground at her feet. 

A monolith of dirt and rock rose before her. 

***

_"...and an entire, unwilling, draconic soul..."_

***

"Air." 

Rynn cleared her thoughts, relying wholly on Arokh to keep the other three spells going. She felt him reach through their Bond... controlling the spells _through_ her without her having to do anything. 

A misty sphere swirled into being a foot from her face. 

***

_"...how much more powerful, then, human and dragon souls in their entirety..."_

***

Glaive sucked in a breath, then said, "Rift." 

Rynn's hands clenched around the hilt of Runeblade, which she held point down before her. 

"_Now you help too,_" she thought to the Rift Crystal. 

The light of the elements flickered in the jewel's depths. 

Arokh bent his will to the Bond, giving all of his considerable strength. 

Rynn stared through the middle of the circle made by the four spells and shouted, "Open!" 

A sucking sound... of air rushing through a small escape. A tiny _blackness_ appeared in the middle of the circle. 

***

_"...working in harness... willingly...as one..."_

***

"_Open_!" Rynn shouted again, a command punctuated by Arokh's deep roar. 

***

_"...together."_

***

A circle of blackness opened between the elements, its edges a blurred silver-violet mist. 

"Hold them!" Glaive shouted. 

Rynn didn't notice his excitement; she was concentrating too hard. 

"We did it, Rynn!" Arokh said, still focussing through the Bond. 

"We did it," Rynn echoed, fierce pride in her voice. 

"They did it!" Glaive shouted across the crater of Mount Tibor's summit. 

***

_Dayrett fell silent. His apprentice, Rimril, shifted uneasily behind him. _

"So we do_ have a chance," Heron said. He looked at Runeblade, a thumb rubbing over the Rift Crystal. "I just don't know why I was picked." _

"Because we believe in your courage," Dayrett replied. "Yours and Arokh's. Together, you two are the best the Order has." 

Heron hesitated and glanced back at Arokh. 

The red dragon said, "Forgive us, wise one, but you have made it clear we have a chance of winning. What of surviving?" 

***

Rynn and Arokh carefully reduced the power of the spells, then terminated them. 

"We did it!" the young warrior-mage replied exulted again, and turned to hug Arokh around the neck. 

"Think we can do it again?" Arokh asked her with a grin. 

"For the Great Spell of Protection?" Rynn pulled away for a second and thought back to Shiv'arass. 

But it's hard to be afraid of failure when you've just seen how successful you can be. 

Rynn looked up at Arokh and nodded. "Yes. Yes, I think we can." 

"_Think_?" he repeated, raising an eyeridge. 

Rynn smiled. "Fine. I _know_ we can. Now our only problem is Navaros." 

***

_Dayrett said, "Your survival depends on your own instincts. You've both been trained well. Choose your actions wisely." _

Heron smiled wryly. "Guardian Mage, can't you be a little more inspiring?" 

The tattooed old man chuckled. "Very well. May Wind lift your wings and Earth guide your steps. May Water part before you and the Flame of courage burn forever in your Soul." 

Heron laughed. "Too bad I'm not a mage. But thanks, Master Dayrett." 

"Good luck, my son. And to you, hatchling." 

Heron mounted Arokh and sheathed Runeblade. Then the two were up and away. 

"But they'd have a better chance of survival if they were_ magi, right, Master?" Rimril asked softly. _

Dayrett sighed heavily. "Even then, Rimril. Even then." 


	39. Call to Arms

_Call to Arms_

There was a cave further down the side of Mount Tibor that faced away from the edge. It was fairly well hidden, so long as no one decided to walk by. There was a large area of rock and dirt just outside, which was where Star traced the outline of the Order's symbol with an arrowhead. 

"Inside," Kang-shi hissed suddenly. "Blade dragons." 

The Bonded crowded into the cave and waited as the shadows of Navaros' forerunners flicked across the rocks. 

"How many has be brought?" Glaive muttered, for Nashiva was counting softly and _still_ the shadows came. 

"We won't be able to see Navaros at this rate," Star added. He looked at the symbol outside and fingered his bow nervously. 

After a couple of hours of waiting while the enemy dragons continued to circle, Glaive said to Rynn, "This is how we bend Air." 

His form blurred, then blended with the features of the cave behind him. "You practice. I'll scout." 

The blurriness moved outside, keeping close to the walls and out of the light. 

Time passed. 

When the sun was high, Glaive returned. Rynn saw light refracting within his blurred form as he darted inside and became visible again. 

"Wartoks, orcs and some giants," he reported between gasps of breath. He leant against his dragon's golden shoulder. "Scavengers. The trained kind." 

"Trained?" Rynn asked. 

"To track and hunt." 

"And kill," said Kang-shi. 

"War giants?" Ebontyne wanted to know. 

"I'd like to see any wartok general keep a primitive giant from using orcs as frisbees," Glaive snorted. 

"Point taken." 

"Any sign of the Betrayer?" Nashiva asked. 

"Not on the ground," Glaive told her. 

"We'll know when he begins the ritual," Ebontyne said. "We can only wait. Keep an eye outside. 

***

"Good thing we ate last night," Star muttered some hours later. They couldn't risk preparing food for fear of attracting scavengers. They knew the monsters were around. They'd heard a couple snuffling nearby but hadn't seen any. Glaive supposed their cave was inaccessable, save by flight. The others hoped he was correct. 

***

The blade dragons stopped patrolling at sunset. Glaive reported seeing them descend to the foothills. The bad news was that the wartoks and orcs were starting up the mountain in small groups, chained scavengers with them. 

They would have to keep quiet. 

***

An hour after the moons had risen, the ritual began. Arokh, Nashiva, Morghus and Kang-shi raised their heads in unison and, automatically it seemed, looked up at the cave's roof in the direction of the mountain's summit. Glaive and Ebontyne looked at each other and nodded. Rynn could feel it, too. A strange tingling sensation in her mind and an inexplicable feeling of dreadful anticipation. 

Star, not being gifted with magic, felt nothing. But the reactions of his companions was all he needed to tell something was going on. 

"Let's do this," he said. 

Ebontyne, Glaive, Nashiva, Morghus and Kang-shi followed him outside. 


	40. The Great Spell of Protection

_The Great Spell of Protection_

"Ready?" 

Rynn let out a deep breath and looked at her Bonded. "Yes." She drew Runeblade and followed Arokh outside. The others were waiting around the symbol of the Order Star had drawn in the dirt. The humans were prepared to fight. Glaive and Ebontyne had removed hood and helm, and stood with their hands free and magic-ready. Star had his bow out with the string half-drawn. The misty outline of an arrow could be seen between bow and string. The three dragons watched the sky. The Great Spell of Protection involved a lot of bright light effects, which were bound to attract unwelcome attention. 

Rynn and Arokh would be unable to defend themselves during the casting. 

Rynn looked up at Mount Tibor's summit where the clouds were beginning to roil. "Here we go." 

She stood on the central circle and closed her eyes. Arokh crouched behind her, just outside the symbol. Human and dragon ackowledged the presence of the other, their entire souls joining as two hands clasp, fingers lacing tightly together. 

They summoned all five elements at once. 

"_Steady them_," Arokh's voice rumbled in Rynn's mind. 

Fire was first. Hardest to control and dangerous to leave unattended, roaring a mental storm fuelled by tension and nerves, Rynn and Arokh forced away their anxiety. They _would_ do this. The elemental fire, fed now only by steady determination, became a golden blaze in their minds' eyes. 

Air, calmed already by the cessation of nerves, became a fresh strong wind. 

Water and Earth, drawn from the surroundings, were patiently waiting for release. 

Ether, kept under firm control by Rynn, Arokh and Runeblade, was a sense of _absence_ in the minds of human and dragon. A doorway to nothing. 

"_Now_," Arokh thought. 

The five elements twined with each other in their thoughts, forming a beautiful, primal dance. 

Rynn spoke the first part of the incantation: "This spell of my casting, I cast for the hope of the future." 

_The elements swirled in response. The topmost circle in the symbol of the Order of the Flame burst into a column of crimson light._

The second line: "This power I summon is in the face of true danger," 

_Another mental clash of colour. The left circle blazed amber, shooting orange light into the sky._

The third: "A decision founded on my own integrity," 

_Golden incandescence..._

The fourth: "Until justice can be done and the spell broken..." 

***

"Keep a good look-out," Ebontyne shouted over the noise. "We won't hear any unwelcome visitors over this." 

"Speak for yourself, human," Kang-shi said, green eyes lighting. "_I_ hear them." 

"Go, then," Glaive said, and the golden dragon launched herself into the sky, Nashiva and Morghus at her sides. 

_"I vow that I have the courage to face death,"_

Emerald light flared from the symbol. 

"Doing well, Rynn," Ebontyne whispered. She glanced up at the summit where dark clouds spiralled and flickers of lightning lit the edges. 

_"And that I honour life."_

Brilliant sapphire light... 

...four blade dragons flapped above the rocky edge of the Bondeds' hide-out. One was taken out immediately by simultaneous bursts of fire from Nashiva and Kang-shi. It fell down the other side of the mountain, trailing smoke. 

The other three croaked with their crow-like voices and separated, steel-feathered wings _zing_ing at every beat. One breathed a ball of toxic gas at Rynn and Arokh. 

Nashiva flew into its path, catching most of the fumes against her back... 

***

"In me, my words and my str-" 

She coughed. 

_The elemental structure trembled._

"In me, my wor-" 

Dizziness made her falter. She suddenly felt like she couldn't stand upright. 

_Fine fracture lines appeared across the partially formed dome..._

"_Arokh, I c-can't..._" Rynn gasped for air and started to choke, panic clawing her insides as she felt the fire in her mind flare up into a raging maelstrom. 

"_Breathe_," Arokh's voice whispered in her mind. "_I've got them. Breathe, Rynn._" 

Rynn felt the dragon attempt to steady the spell. His own breath was erratic and his mind slightly unsteady, but he kept control of himself. She took a shallow gulp of air and felt it, clean and pure, fill her lungs. She breathed again, gripping Runeblade tightly and feeling Arokh looming behind her. All she could see was colour, and her senses were drowned in warmth and cold, the taste of clean water and the feel of rushing wind, the smell of newly turned earth, the sound of crackling flames... a sense of being both nowhere and everywhere. 

She heard Arokh say with her: "In me, my words and my strength, my companions trust." 

_The elements wove together a seventh time, generating a blaze like sunlight through amethysts, then the symbol of the Order of the Flame burned white... and the Great Spell of Protection waited to be moulded._

***

"That's it!" Glaive shouted. He threw a bolt of gold lightning at a blade dragon in pursuit of Morghus. "Kang-shi! Keep those creatures off our backs!" 

"You heard him," the dragon roared to Nashiva and Morghus. "Guard the humans and our dragonkin!" 

As the three dragons engaged the enemy then swooped aside to draw them away from the humans and Arokh, Glaive, Star and Ebontyne hurried to the blazing symbol. They stopped just short of the white light, and Ebontyne pointed up at Tibor's cratered peak. Barely visible, a transparent silver film enclosed the entire summit in a gigantic bubble. 

"I thought that wasn't supposed to happen yet!" Star exclaimed. Then he frowned and took a step back, still looking but not through the spell's light. "Now I can't see it." 

"It's not up yet," Ebontyne told him. "We have to-" 

_"By Fire, Water, Air, Earth and Ether, I put this place under my protection!"_ Rynn shouted. She appeared, striding from the light, and went straight to Arokh. "Take all the crystals but one," she said to her companions. "Take that last one out when you see Arokh breathe fire." 

"After that," Ebontyne said as she pulled the newly-formed barrier crystal from a circle in the symbol, "don't let the enemy catch you." 

Rynn mounted and Arokh said, "When it's over, I'll spread my wings and breathe fire again to signal you to replace the crystals and end the spell." 

A few seconds passed silently before a blast of gases hit the ground nearby. 

"Good luck," Ebontyne said, and the two men nodded. 

"To you as well," Rynn said. She looked up at the sky, past the battling dragons to the mountain's storm-touched summit. "Let's fly!" 


	41. Ascent

_Ascent_

Arokh broke through the blade dragons with a roar and a breath of scalding magma. They fluttered aside with pained croaks and melting wings, too panicked to retaliate. The red dragon clawed his way higher, Rynn sitting above his shoulders with one hand on his neck and the other outflung, ready to throw her own fire if necessary... but none of the enemy followed. 

The way up was clear. 

Arokh reached the edge of the crater and rose above, wings beating powerfully against a furious wind. He and Rynn instantly sought the middle of the peak, the lowest part of the curved summit. They both saw the boy standing there, alone, head bowed and hands clenched at his sides. The air around him shimmered green. 

"How far is he into the ritual?" Rynn asked. 

Arokh shook his head. "I don't know, never having seen it completed. Do we go in?" 

Rynn stared at her brother. "Yes. Send the signal." 

They passed the border of the Great Spell of Protection and Arokh sent a stream of fire back over his wing. 

***

"There!" Star shouted. "Now, Ebontyne!" 

The War Mage snatched up the last crystal then whistled, not waiting to watch the spell take form. "Morghus - to me!" She put the crystal into her belt pouch with two others and said to Star and Glaive, "Let's get to the skies." 

"_Ebontynnnnnnne_!" Morghus roared, tearing towards the ground. His jaws parted and fire poured out. 

Ebontyne and Glaive were forced to duck and both turned while crouched, hands clutching at weapons as they saw the first of many, many wartoks burn to death before them... 

***

The dome flushed through with colour, a shifting blue, visible to all who looked. Rynn nodded, then directed Arokh to land near Navaros. The dragon glided down, now uninhibited by a wind that couldn't enter the barrier. 

His talons scraped the rock as he landed, and Rynn dismounted more slowly than usual. Once on the ground she touched the pouch containing the Jewels of Eternity, reassured by their presence, and looked at her Bonded. 

"I'll be right back. _We'll_ be right back." 

He nodded and grinned. 

She looked at her brother again, took a deep breath, and walked towards him. She could hardly stop herself from running, and had to remind herself that the ground was not smooth. Tripping would be too easy. 

But the suspense was killing her. 

There wasn't even any noise. _Sound_ couldn't enter the dome. She had only her footsteps and, as she neared Navaros, a faint howling of tortured voices. 

When she finally stood before him, looking down from her superior height, it was hard to feel afraid. Hard to think that this was Navaros. Her only discomfort was from the green haze, which seemed to creep around her body like insubstantial tendrils. 

Eventually, slowly, she crouched down and glanced at Delon's right fist. Then, unable to resist, up into her brother's lowered face. 

Navaros grinned down at her. "I've been expecting you," he whispered. 


	42. Navaros

_Navaros_

Rynn fell backwards, too startled to stand, and felt a gasp betray her. If Navaros hadn't looked frightening before, now, as he loomed over her with a cruel smile and glowing with power, he was terrifying. 

"My Death Magi did a good job in simulating the beginning of my ritual, didn't they?" Navaros chuckled, then glanced at Arokh without lifting his head. The red dragon had advanced towards them a few steps, looking puzzled. "Call him, Rynn." 

"What?" she managed. "Why?" 

His answer was a kick under the chin. 

Rynn's head snapped back and hit the rocks. Bright spots appeared before her eyes and she heard Arokh snarling behind her. Blinking, she looked for Navaros. Where..? 

She sat up and glanced around wildly, noticing he now stood between her and her Bonded. The dragon himself crouched with his red wings half-spread and neck extended, baring his fangs. Navaros walked towards him. 

Rynn stumbled to her feet, a dozen plans tumbling through her bruised mind. Shame burned her as Navaros deigned to look back. 

"You've failed, girl." 

He pointed at Arokh, and blue flames licked around his hand. 

"Get out of there, Arokh!" Rynn shouted. 

The dragon swept his wings out and shot into the air at exactly the same time five blade dragons beat their way aloft from concealment along the crater's rim. Rynn felt her Bonded's startlement as the creatures croaked triumphantly and flew at him with razor wings. He barely evaded the first barrage of poisonous fumes, and Rynn felt a slight, frightening dizziness when he inadvertantly breathed some in. 

"Watch yourself, Rynn!" Arokh roared, and she spun in time to see a huge war giant lumber from a cave in the crater's sloping wall. It turned its brutish face in her direction and fingers thicker than her arms flexed around the haft of a gigantic battle axe. 

"Did you think I'd be so foolish as to be alone?" Navaros whispered in her ear. 

She jerked away from him and he laughed. 

"Come, Rynn." He spread his arms, smiling. "Kill your brother." 

The ground shook as the giant charged down the side of the crater and its bellow echoed through the dome. 

Rynn, still looking at her brother, drew Runeblade. A sudden thought came to her... he thought _this_ was what she'd come here to do! He didn't know about the Jewels, but how was she supposed to get him to use one? 

Again Navaros laughed, this time at her supposed indecision. "Again you fail." 

Rynn turned away and threw a stream of ice at the oncoming giant, hiding her grim smile. It seemed Navaros wasn't going to kill _her_ either; he was after Arokh- 

Something struck her in the back and threw her forward. She only just retained wits enough to roll, avoiding a nasty collision with the ground. When she came up in a crouch her shoulders felt afire and were itching painfully. 

Above, Arokh roared in agony. 

Rynn saw a blade dragon slam into the rocks some distance away, a half-roasted carcasse. She tore her gaze away and stood to face the giant. 

This time her right leg was struck. It buckled beneath her and she dropped to one knee with a disbelieving cry. 

"You are not here to fight, Rynn. You're here to watch Arokh die." 

The giant siezed her, its fist trapping her from chest to knees, and lifted. Rynn struggled, gasping as she pictured herself splattered across the rocks after a casual overhand throw. But the toss never came. The giant was only restraining her. 

Navaros smiled and returned his attention to the embattled dragons. 

Rynn tensed her hands and let her anger overflow, feeling the fire burn through her veins and shoot from her fingers. The giant howled and dropped her. She fell about ten feet to land badly on the rocks, her already injured leg twisting. With a shout of pain and rage, the young warrior-mage threw a ball of flames at Navaros' back. 

The Lord of the Rift turned almost casually and caught the fire in one hand. Flickers of crimson-gold spurted between his fingers for a second, then he tossed the spell back at its caster. 

Rynn threw herself forward to the rocks and the fireball struck the giant, which howled a second time, then, snarling horribly, lifted its huge axe. Rynn rolled over and was frozen, hypnotised, as the double-bladed weapon rose higher, the tendons in the giant's hand standing taut... its eyes glaring down at her. 

Arokh interceded just as the axe chopped down with a ghastly swooping sound... followed by a crunch. 

Rynn heard a scream tear from her throat, and for a second, couldn't tell if it was she or Arokh who'd been struck. There was a hot wetness on her face and when she wiped it off with her hands they came away red and sticky. 

The ground shuddered, and roars came from both the giant and the dragon. 

About to sit up, Rynn was suddenly kicked in the side of the head by Navaros as he walked past her. She groaned and bit back a cry of pure agony as Arokh shrieked. 

_Don't give up, Arokh! Don't give up!_

_Rynn, hurry..._

She got to her hands and knees, blinking blood from her eyes. Several feet in front of her, his back turned, was Navaros. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw he was holding Runeblade in one hand. 

He definitely wasn't taking any chances with her. 

Beyond, the war giant was on its back on the rocks as it grappled with a clawing, biting dragon half its size. As she watched, Arokh breathed fire into his adversary's face and it howled in response, then struck the dragon's limp right wing with a fist. 

Rynn gasped, almost blacking out from the shock. But the horrible pain gave her the strength to stand. 

Whatever she was going to do, it had to be done now. She fumbled at the strings of her belt pouch. 

"_Navaros_!" she screamed, and, in her haste, instead of throwing a Jewel at him, hurled the pouch itself at his head. 

He spun and snatched it out of the air the same way he'd caught her fireball. "I'll use this one to kill your Bonded," he sneered, fingers curling around the tanned leather. 

Rynn could almost feel her heart stop. 

Navaros grinned at her, never looking away from her horrified expression, and his hand burst into angry blue flames. He half-turned, raising his fist to throw his power - and what he thought was hers - at Arokh. 

He stopped... stared at his hand. 

Rynn found herself holding her breath, eyes widening. From his burning fingers fell a fine trail of ash. 

Navaros opened his fist to find a handful of Jewels. 

"_NO_!" he shrieked, making to hurl them away, but by then it was too late. Green light shot up his arm in a flash and enveloped his entire body. He stumbled towards Rynn with a snarl, then fell face down on the rocks and lay still, the green light gone. 

Several glowing Jewels dropped from his hand with a musical chiming. 


	43. Caged Souls

_Caged Souls_

Rynn allowed her legs to collapse and dropped to her knees, breathing hard. She looked up from the rocks when she realised she could no longer hear the sounds of struggling, and saw Arokh pinning the war giant to the ground. The monster was obviously dead; Arokh's jaws clamped around its neck in a deathly, bloody grip. 

Wincing, she sat back and examined her leg. Some spell or other of Navaros' had eaten through her armour below the back of the knee, and her skin there was raw and blistered. She touched the sore with a bare hand and hissed, eyes watering at the painful coolness. 

"Navaros?" Arokh's subdued voice asked. 

Rynn glanced up again, then at the body sprawled in front of her. 

"Did it work?" 

She crawled over to the body, hesitated a few seconds, then rolled it onto its back with a groan as her shoulders burned. 

It moved flaccidly, and Delon's face stared without expression at the sky. Rynn watched, hardly daring to hope, as a thin vein pulsed in her brother's neck and his chest rose and fell. He even blinked. 

"He's alive," she whispered. "I think..." her eyes flicked to the Jewels, still throbbing with green light. "I think he's gone." 

Arokh limped down from his kill, one wing held awkwardly and bleeding at the shoulder. His eyes burned. "We can't chance this on a thought, Rynn. Is he gone? Did the Jewels work?" 

Rynn prised away the fingers gripping Runeblade and rook the sword back. She held it and glanced briefly at Delon's body, then the Jewels. Ether flowed in her mind... 

She knew. 

"It worked." 

Arokh sighed in relief and Rynn herself let out a deep breath, lowering her head again. 

There was a faint, crystalline cracking sound. 

"What was that?" Arokh asked sharply. 

Rynn didn't move and listened hard. 

It came again. Stress lines forming on glass? She glanced breathlessly up at the dome. Was it breaking? 

_No..._

She jerked her eyes disbelievingly down to the Jewels. 

One of them trembled and a fine crack split one of its facets. Something like orange smoke puffed up from it. 

"They're too strong!" Arokh exclaimed. "Kaeros and Navaros must be too powerful to be contained!" 

Rynn scooped the Jewels into her hands as quickly as she could. "Signal the others to end the Spell!" she shouted, and stumbled away, heading for the broken wall of the crater that stood as a dry waterfall, the Jewels held awkwardly in her cupped hands. Her only thought was to get the things as far away from her brother as possible. 

If she could throw them off... 

Another one cracked. 

She abandonned caution and ran. 

***

Arokh struggled up the rocky slope, hindclaws scrabbling for purchase as he pulled himself higher. He'd never seen any use for a dragon learning how to climb, all things considered. Biting off a savage curse as his injured wing flailed uselessly and his swinging tail almost jerked him off-balance, he clawed his way up the steep edge. He only hoped that, if he did falter, his wing would be strong enough to support a glide to safety. 

For now, speed was the key. If those Jewels weren't gone before they broke then Navaros and Kaeros' mixed soul essences would surely find a way to get back into Delon. Then he and Rynn would be back where they'd started. 

Albeit, in much worse straits. 

He reached the jagged ledge, barely able to fit himself onto it without being up against the wall of the dome. Peering through the shifting blue field he knew he'd guessed the right side of the crater to climb. Far below he could see the dragons fighting, the black dots of wartoks swarming up the mountain. 

"Let them see me," Arokh whispered, and reared back on his hind legs, spreading his wings and ignoring the near-crippling pain. Then he raised his head and breathed fire. 

***

Star jumped back with the heavy stone axe he'd filched from a dead wartok and cursed, wiping blood from his chin. In all his years of longevity he'd never seen fit to practice a little hand-to-hand combat, let alone get himself a weapon other than his bow or dagger? 

_Idiot!_

Glaive had leaped to take Star's place, his bladed staff shearing through studded leather armour and wartok hide. Ebontyne was a dark blue beside him with her shadowshiv. The wartoks had been pushed back to this narrow pass in the rocks, wide enough for two to fight abreast, after Morghus' initial attack, but since the dragon had returned to aid Nashiva and Kang-shi in the air the Dark Union's foot-soldiers had been steadily gaining ground. 

Soon there would be room enough for three to fight. Then they'd be in the 'clearing' where the symbol was, dark since the activation of the Spell. 

Still catching his breath, Star looked up. 

"They did it!" he blurted, seeing Arokh's steady line of flame. "Ebontyne, Glaive - they did it! We can lower the dome!" 

"Good," Ebontyne shouted over her shoulder. "Unfortunately, we're a bit busy right now." 

"If Navaros has been defeated, _they're_ fine," Glaive added. He lunged, his weapon driving up into a wartok's throat with a crunch. "They can wait." 

Star nevertheless dashed back to the symbol and replaced his prisms, then returned to the fight. "We could use their help," he pointed out. 

***

Rynn braced herself against the dry wall of the falls with one elbow and peered over the edge. It was a long way down... but not that far when the dome was considered. The field curved under and cut into the cliffs about ten feet below her. 

More orange smoke drifted up from the splitting Jewels and she started to feel a definite sense of vertigo. 

_Why isn't the Spell down yet?_

She looked for Arokh, who paused for breath where he stood high ont he other side of the crater, then let out another stream of fire. 

Rynn stared down at the Jewels, each one sewn with orange cracks. The Jewels themselves pulsed rapidly with a bright green light. 

After a second, she realised they were keeping perfect time with _her heartbeat_. 

The dizziness increased, but not before Rynn made her choice. 

She flung both hands outwards and the Jewels formed a glittering arc as they dropped down the side of Mount Tibor. As Rynn watched, holding tight to the rocks, there was a sharp crackling noise and a puff of orange smoke... then a ripple or incandescence as the Jewels of Eternity shattered. 


	44. The Strength of Two

_The Strength of Two_

Rynn limped slowly across the crater, trying not to grimace with every step. She wished she'd asked Ebontyne to teach her some healing magic. Thinking of Ebontyne made her ponder the dome again. What if the other Bonded were dead? She and Arokh would be trapped here forever. 

And Delon. 

That made her forget the Great Spell of Protection. She staggered painfully to her brother's body and sat beside it, looking at the face she'd missed for so long. 

She had an idea of how to get Delon's body and soul reunited, but it would have to wait until the dome was down. 

Even so... 

She held Runeblade and gave it an experimental wave in the air, willing a riftgate to open. 

Nothing happened, as she'd guessed. Nothing could get past the Spell. 

She looked up at where Arokh perched, still breathing fire. 

"_Can you hear me_?" she thought. 

His flame cut off and he blinked down at her. "_I think_," he replied slowly, not speaking aloud, "_that casting the Spell together did more than we expected._" 

"_Has this sort of thing happened before_?" 

"_I don't know. With a very deep Bond, it sounds possible._" 

"_Can you get back down_?" 

"_I don't know_," he thought again. "_I think so._" He jumped off the ledge and stretched his wings out. They held, but the injured wing trembled as its muscles burned with pain. Arokh landed a short distance from Rynn and Delon, and walked the rest of the way. Then he sank to his belly on the rocks. 

"I've been waiting to see my brother again since the day the Dark Union took him from me," Rynn murmured. She brushed some hair back from Delon's brow, then absently tried to rub her sore (and non-existant) wing. "And here I am. Still waiting." 

"We'll get him back," Arokh assured her. "When the others end the Spell." 

She nodded. "I know. I just want it to be over." 

"Just think of what we've accomplished," he went on. "We stopped Navaros. We saved Drakan." 

Rynn rocked back on her heels. "We've done both of those things before. I'm more interested in Delon; he's the only victory that matters to me." 

"I hope you'll forgive me if I consider Navaros and Drakan worthy of celebration as well," Arokh said with a wry grin. 

Rynn smiled tiredly. "Arokh... thank you. For going through all this with me. You didn't sign up for my little rescue mission willingly, but it's over now and-" she broke off when she noticed the dragon was looking over her shoulder. 

"It's not over yet," he growled. 

Rynn slowly turned her head to follow his gaze. 

Something glowing and orange had just topped the edge of the waterfall. It paused there for a second, then glided in their direction with alarming speed. Rynn's eyes widened when the soul shadow got close enough for her to see clearly. It was twice her height, had four arms, a draconic head, a sinuous tail and was covered in scales. She had seen a picture of this creature the night Delon had been taken, the night she'd first met Arokh, in a book about the history of the Order of the Flame. 

"Navaros... and Kaeros?" Rynn whispered in horror. 

"That's them," Arokh snarled. He'd risen to his feet. 

The twisted spirit had slowed, but by now was only about fifteen feet away. It seemed to be having trouble advancing, as it jerked backwards every now and again, like something was trying to pull it away. 

Rynn gripped both hands around Runeblade's hilt. "Arokh, get Delon away from here." She stood and faced the soul shadow. "You're not taking him!" 

There was a hollow laugh from the orange shade. It glided nearer, towering above her. 

"I'm not afraid of you," she whispered, and raised her sword. 

The soul shadow twitched back and its face formed a snarl of annoyance. It came closer with agonising slowness, reptilian eyes fixed not on Delon... but on Rynn. 

Then, without warning, it leaped at her with a ghostly shriek and all four sets of talons outstretched. Rynn lashed out with Runeblade, but her target suddenly vanished. 

Where to soon became abundantly clear. 

Rynn often remembered with chilling clarity what it had felt like in Shiv'arass Ravine, with that cold hand creeping through her mind. What she felt now was fiery talons tearing at the inside of her head, ripping thought and sanity to pieces. 

She screamed, Runeblade dropping to the ground with a clatter as she grabbed the sides of her head. She couldn't see, couldn't feel beyond the blinding pain, couldn't rally enough of her shattered mind to even fight back. The whirlpool of agony went on and on until she felt a hideous wrench, then a dislocation. 

Through an amber haze, she suddenly realised she was looking into her own laughing face. 

"_No_!" she wailed, her voice sounding oddly distant to her own ears. "_Arokh_!" She grabbed for their Bond, relieved to find it as strongly linked to herself as ever. "_Arokh! Help me_!" 

"_I'm here_," the dragon's thought-voice replied. 

Together, they plunged back into her body. 

Blackness. 


	45. Delon

_Delon_

It was so very cold... 

There was pain, but it was a dull throb, throb, throb... no longer the crippling sensations she'd felt before. 

Then there was a slight warmth on one side of her face. 

"Rynn?" 

She finally opened her eyes. Arokh looked down at her, his head framed by a clear, star-strewn nightscape. 

"Arokh," she whispered, then groaned as her head pounded. "What happened to them?" 

"I know as much - or as little - as you." He sighed. 

Rynn forced herself to sit up. "Delon?" 

"He's still here," the dragon cocked his head to where the boy lay on the ground. "Unpossessed, I might add." 

"Navaros and Kaeros-" 

"-tried to take you over. Ebontyne said something like that could happen if a Jewel of Eternity was destroyed, I believe. You were the nearest being they could reach." His jaws curved into a slight smile. "Looks like we won." 

She forced down the sense of forboding. The term _"out of sight, out of mind"_ held no meaning for her. Navaros and Kaeros had _better_ be gone... 

Rynn leaned forward and gave Arokh an impulsive kiss on the nose. "We won." She got to her feet and looked at the sky again. "When did the Spell go down?" 

"When we were unconscious, I'd guess," he said dryly. "In any case, what will we do now? Restore Delon?" 

"You got it." She picked up Runeblade and led the dragon over to the silent body on the rocks. "At least he's not insane." 

"How are you going to do this?" 

"My first idea..." she held the sword over Delon, one of her hands touching the Rift Crystal, "...is to let him find his own way home." 

She opened a small riftgate right above him and stood back. "And now we wait." She sighed, feeling her muscles relax. She lifted her eyes to the lip of the crater... 

...and a blade dragon flapped its ponderous way over the edge, screaming at the sight of her. 

"Stand aside," Arokh told Rynn, and drew a breath. 

Three more blade dragons cleared the edge. 

"Arokh, don't," Rynn whispered quickly. "_Look_. They're not attacking." The two Bonded watched as the blade dragons landed on the high ledge, necks craned down and voices croaking threateningly. 

"Maybe they fear hitting...Navaros," Arokh said. 

The blade dragons didn't move for a minute, then one hissed and extended its wings. 

"They're stupid, but we won't fool them forever," Arokh warned. "And I can't get them all from the ground." 

All four blade dragons suddenly jumped in apparent fright. Two leaped back into the air and fled. 

"Go away!" a small voice shouted. Rynn felt herself pushed aside as someone shoved past her. "Leave us alone!" Delon yelled. 

The remaining blade dragons made their escape. 

Rynn tried to balance herself on her good leg and said nothing, as though to speak would wake her from this wonderful dream. 

Delon, his back still to the Bonded pair, waited until the enemy dragons could no longer be seen before he hesitantly held both of his hands up before himself for inspection. He looked at the palms and the backs, touched skin to skin, ran fingers through his hair. 

Then he turned around. 

"Rynn?" 

She didni't move, sure she'd fall over if she tried. Delon saved her the trouble by running to her and hugging her around the middle. Rynn felt her arms go around him in response and she held him fiercely, startled to see her own tears darken his hair. 

"Delon... I _knew_ we'd get you back." 

"I knew you would, too. Did you save the others?" 

"Others?" 

Delon pulled back a little to look up at her. "Atimar and Carth and Syl... everyone." 

Rynn lowered her head. "You... were the only one I could save. Some others might have escaped, but..." 

"Home?" he whispered, stricken. 

"Burnt." She felt her the familiar sadness again as her brother stared at her, felt the familiar tightening in her chest. We'll have to find another one. Or make a new one." For some reason, she now found herself thinking of the Castle of Seasons. That made her remember Arokh. "Delon, I want you to meet my friend." 

Delon looked at the great red dragon shyly. 

"This is Arokh of the Order of the Flame." 

The boy's face suddenly lie up. "Like from Atimar's stories?" 

Rynn nodded, grinning. "Arokh, my brother Delon." 

"You're all your sister talked about when we first met, Delon," Arokh said by way of greeting, and smiled toothily. 

"You're big," Delon noted. "What's wrong with your wing?" 

"Flew into an axe," Arokh shrugged, obviously trying to be casual about the whole situation, but the movement made him wince. "Once it's fixed we'll go for a fly, hm?" 

"Yeah!" Delon looked at Rynn eagerly. "Can I?" 

Rynn laughed, dizzy with happiness that Delon was exactly as she remembered him. "Of course." She looked up as three dragons flew above the crater, but relaxed when she saw they were mounted. "But first, let me introduce you to some other friends of mine." 


	46. The Saving of Souls

_The Saving of Souls_

The Fallen Angel looked disinterestedly at Rynn. "You again." 

Rynn glanced at the other Bonded. Ebontyne and Morghus, Star and Nashiva, Glaive and Kang-shi. The riders sat astride the dragons, who stood on either side of Arokh, Delon and herself. 

"We've come to claim some souls." 

"Indeed," it whispered. The firey feathers of its wings shifted as the angel turned its head to fully face her. "All have been given to me willingly, fairly, save those tho challenged me and lost." 

"These three did not-" 

"They parted with their souls, and do you claim they did not entrust them to one Navaros?" 

"They did not belong to him, and they don't belong to you. Give them back." 

"You make demands of me, mortal?" The angel's voice was no longer one of dry disinterest. There was a threatening tone, and it now looked more like a coiled spring than someone crouched with no intention of moving. 

"Distract it," Rynn said over her shoulder. 

"What will you do?" Morghus asked. 

"Hit it with Runeblade a few times, if I can get close enough." She reached back over her shoulder and slid the sword free. "If it took Navaros and Kaeros from Delon the first time we fought, I'm hoping-" 

"-it'll release souls from the Fallen," Ebontyne finished. "Count me in." 

"Well, I'm with _you_," Morghus said dryly, but he grinned at his Bonded. 

"Delon, I need you to ride with one of the others," Rynn said. "I have to be able to fight without you holding on to me, and I don't want you falling off." 

"We'll take him, Rynn," Star said. "C'mon, Delon." 

Delon slid off Arokh's back and ran to Nashiva. 

"Glaive?" Ebontyne said. "Are you in?" 

The dark-skinned Bonded nodded, but didn't speak. 

As if sensing the approaching conflict, the Fallen Angel rose to its feet, wings stretching. The black shoulders shrugged and it crossed its arms in contempt. 

"Try for around its head," Ebontyne whispered. "Then Rynn can get a clear attack on its legs. I _hope_," she added, "you don't have to get Runeblade in its chest." 

"So do I." Rynn sent a silent signal to Arokh and the dragon lifted into the air. "Ready? 

The other three Bonded flew to the attack, loosing firey breath at the angel's head... but the Fallen made no reaction. It wasn't until Morghus flew straight at its face that it made a move. One hand flicked up as one would shoo away a fly; Morghus and Ebontyne went hurtling off into Nowhere like a rock hit by a heavy stick. 

"_Morghus_!" Arokh shouted, then flew at the angel's legs ass Rynn said, "Now!" The red dragon darted in with a few swift wingbeats and circled a thigh, gliding perpendicular to the ground so Rynn need only hold Runeblade up over her head to hit something...which she did. 

Orange light sparked where she struck, and the angel reeled back. 

"What have you done?" it screamed, and bent to clamp a dark hand over the wound. But the amber light curled around its fingers and wafted away like smoke. "_No_!" It grabbed for the escaping souls, allowing Arokh to make a second pass. Runeblade cut through the angel's left ankle and more sparks flew. 

"Shall we continue?" Arokh roared at the Fallen. 

"I must submit," the angel replied, its whispery voice a growl and its eyes flashing. "I have already lost more than what you wanted to take." 

Arokh backwinged out of reach and Rynn pointed at Star and Glaive with Runeblade. "Return what is theirs." 

Nashiva and Kang-shi hovered carefully before the angel, who brushed a huge finger over Star and Glaive's heads. There was more orange light, then the two humans glowed green for a second. 

"It's done, Rynn," Star called. "Now what about Ebontyne?" 

"Lead the way," Rynn yelled back. "We'll fly after the angel. And when Ebontyne's done," Rynn told the Fallen, "let's have a talk about Gholek's dragonstone." 

***

The morning dawned brightly over the canyon, new light touching the early clouds with pink and gold, a startling contrast to the blue sky. Rynn sat with Delon on the edge of the cliffs above Gholek's former cave, watching Arokh, Morghus and the dragons' restored sister turn circles high in the air. 

"They look happy," Delon said. 

"How can you tell?" 

He shrugged. "It just looks like they're playing. Like birds do." He wrapped his arms around his drawn-up knees. "What will we do now?" 

It was a question Rynn hadn't had the time to ponder until now. "I don't know," she confessed. "What do you want to do?" 

"I've always loved Atimar's stories of the Order of the Flame. Since it's real, and you've joined, maybe I should." 

"We'd be the only ones in it," Rynn pointed out. 

"No you wouldn't," Nashiva said, approaching from behind them. "You can include Star and myself." 

"Is Star alright with that?" Rynn asked. 

Nashiva stretched her wings, then yawned. "If he wasn't, I wouldn't have suggested it." She nodded up at where Gholek flew. "I'm sure she'll join as well, even if she never Bonds again." 

"I like her," Delon said, " but she seems sad." 

Rynn said, " She's been through a lot." 

"Even so..." Nashiva sat down and folded her brown wings, "...she is a good dragon. Both of the old Order, and as a friend. You would be wise to invite her when you decide to rekindle the Flame." 

"When I..?" Rynn began, but Delon interrupted. 

"Are there any other dragons? Can I Bond?" 

"There are bound to be some of us who still sleep," Nashiva said. "We could behing by waking them, once we find them." 

"_That's_ what I want to do, Rynn," Delon said. "Can we?" 

And just like that, they were moving into tomorrow, not dwelling on yesterday. It felt good, Rynn thought, to get her mind out of the past. Her home was gone, but Delon was with her now. She had done what she's set out to do the night of the wartok raid. 

It was time to plan their future. 

***

Later that day, Ebontyne, Morghys, Glaive and Kang-shi disappeared. Rynn turned away from the empty campsite and sighed. 

"You knew it might happen," Arokh rumbled. "They may have helped you stop Navaros, but restoring the Order is another matter." 

"I expected Glaive to go, because of Kang-shi." Rynn stared off into the noon sky. "But Ebontyne and Morghus..." she trailed away, then continued bitterly, "They might have said something." 

"People - and dragons - do what they want," Arokh said. He craned his neck back so he could see Delon, whom Star was teaching to draw a bow. Nashiva and Gholek were hunting further down the canyon. "You can save their souls, but it doesn't mean they'll set them to any worthy cause." 

"What if they start another Dark Union?" Rynn fretted. 

"If they do, the Order of the Flame will stop them." 

Rynn sighed again, then nodded. "I guess we will. And on that note, I guess we should get moving." 

But when she mounted Arokh a short while later and flew off with Star, Nashiva, Gholek and Delon, she couldn't help searching every horizon for a sign of the mising Bonded. 

She saw nothing. 


	47. Epilogue - The Rekindling

_Epilogue - The Rekindling_

In the wreckage of the Dragon Temple they found a large basin fashioned of some golden metal. It was perfectly smooth and whole, as though untouched by time's passage. The bowl was shallow, but wide enough for a dragon to rest its head on. 

They stood it upright where the dias used to be, and snow fell all around it, and in it. Rynn brushed a couple of the white flakes away and watched them melt on her fingers. More snow fell. She looked around the ruin and sighed. "This is going to take some time." 

"We don't have to do this all Winter," Star suggested. 

"But I feel we should make a start here." 

"Of course." Gloved hands ran around the bowl's rim. "_Especially_ here." 

"Something about the Order of the Flame I don't know about?" 

He grinned. "This was where the Flame burned. A symbol of what we carried in our hearts." 

Rynn stared into the bowl. How long must it have lain, cold and empty? "I guess we should relight it, then." 

Star was looking at the sky. "Perhaps we should invite them to help." 

It was Ebontyne, Morghus, Glaive and Kang-shi. When the dragons glided down to the castle ruins, Rynn said, in a voice that showed she was glad to be wrong, "I thought we'd seen the last of you." 

"Glaive talked me into signing up," Ebontyne said. 

Rynn stared at the male warrior. 

"She had nothing better to do with her new-found mortality," Glaive said, swinging down from his seat. The snow crunched under his boots. 

"Might as well grow old living for something," Ebontyne agreed, also dismounting. 

"_Sometimes,_" Arokh's thoughs came to Rynn from another part of the ruins, "_it takes the realisation of death for one to decide to do something with one's life._" 

"And you?" Rynn asked Glaive. 

The man shrugged, lowering his hood and making a face as snow brushed his scalp. "I thought you might be able to use another mage." 

Rynn couldn't stop a skeptical arching of one eyebrow as she regarded Kang-shi. The dragon's eyes narrowed in response, jaws twitching into a faint sneer. 

Glaive turned to his Bonded and reached up to touch her golden face. The dragon's green eyes flinhed, then blinked at the human in confusion. To Kang-shi as much as to Rynn, Glaive said, "It's time for us to change as well." 

"_Change_?" Kang-shi blurted, and her expression was almost a snarl. 

Glaive withdrew his hand, but remained looking at her. Rynn heard him say, very softly, "I'm sorry." 

Then Ebontyne was beckoning her, Star and Morghus away. 

"What's that about?" Rynn asked as they left the two alone. 

"Nothing that concerns you," the War Mage replied. "Ask one of them for yourself later." She indulged herself with a backward glance. "But I'll tell you, it's something that's long overdue." She drew a deep breath, then asked Rynn, "What do we do now?" 

"_Start a fire,_" Arokh's throughts murmured again. "_Then make it grow._" 

***

The bowl was empty save for a few stray snowflakes, but the other Bonded said that wouldn't matter. The metal, if it was metal, would burn as soon as it was touched by the flames. As it had so long ago. 

Rynn had wanted everyone to light the bowl together, but the others, excepting Delon and Arokh, had declined, saying it was her right. Her responsibility. 

Thinking of Rimril and Atimar, Rynn added to herself, "_My charge. Here is where it ends. Where we not only keep the Flame alive, but give it new life. Where it rekindles._" 

"_No, Rynn...here is where it _begins_. We've saved Drakan from Navaros, but to return the land to the days of glory... to another Golden Age... that is a task more difficult and more important._" 

Rynn approached the bowl with her hands half-raised. "_More important than saving everyone from Navaros_?" 

"_What use in saving them if they do not value their lives? If they use their lives to accomplish nothing of value, or, worse, the destruction and pain of others_?" 

"_That is what the Order of the Flame is? Learning that your life has value_?" 

"_That _all_ life has value. That it's worth preserving. And worth _living." The dragon lifted his eyes to the towering ruins of the great library. "_There is so much to be done in life. And we realise that so late._" 

"Then let's make a start," Rynn said softly, pointing into the bowl. 

Arokh's jaws parted and he exhaled a short blast of fire as Rynn sent her magic with it, streamers of crimson and gold flowing from her fingertips. 

The basin flared to life with a low roar, as of flames disturbed by the wind. The inside of the bowl reflected incandescence as fire leaped up in a golden dance; snow in the basin evaporating without even having a chance to melt. 

Rynn glanced down as Delon came to her side and grinned up at her. She put an arm around his shoulders wordlessly and they both turned their eyes to the flames again, waiting in silence as first Gholek, then Ebontyne and Morghus, Star and Nashiva, then Glaive and Kang-shi came forward with them into the circle of warmth and light. 

"And so," Arokh rumbled, "it begins." 


	48. Acknowledgements

**Acknowledgements:**

First and foremost, the team at Surreal for creating the wondrous game of Drakan! Thank you all. 

The following individuals for their comments, criticisms and compliments as they watched this fanfiction unfold in the Surreal-News forums: 

Firetalon, fellow fanfic writer and roleplayer.  
Sapphire Night, fellow roleplayer.  
Arokh's Twin, fanfic writer, and host of the dowloadable version.  
Sulalee, moderator of the Lovely Pink Place.  
Lady Slag, Lady of Planet Drakan and the Giblet Club,  
Lady Alani, Xanith,  
Atimar,  
Ancient One,  
Unknown Warrior,  
Suomi Dragon,  
Stormy Lake,  
[CYA] Wolf,  
Punisher,  
Assassin,  
and  
Enlade.

My thanks to all of you.

Sincerely, Shadow of Light Dragon, aka Laura Campbell.

  
  
Go Here to Read Drakan 2: The Rekindling with music: http://www.1freespace.com/avatar/Fanfiction/Drakan2/drakan2.html 


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